Affective Work Competencies Inventory

Abstract

The Affective Work Competencies Inventory (AWCI) is a 45-item psychological instrument designed to quantify five core work attitudes and habits that constitute intrinsic value components crucial for job success. Originally developed from a 95-item pool, the AWCI measures essential non-cognitive traits deemed necessary for vocational success. The scale is structured around five empirically derived factors: ambition, self-control, organization, enthusiasm, and conscientiousness.

Keywords

Affective competencies, work attitudes, job success, vocational education, industrial psychology, conscientiousness, self-control, intrinsic values.

Authors

P. E. Brauchle, et al. (1983)

Purpose

The primary purpose of the AWCI is to systematically measure specific non-cognitive factors, or affective work competencies, that are believed to predict success in industrial and vocational settings. It focuses on quantifiable attitudes and habits rather than purely technical skills.

The authors posited that these competencies might be most effectively transmitted to students through the emulation of teacher behavior, suggesting an important application in vocational education and training programs aimed at fostering positive workplace conduct and values.

Construct

The scale measures Affective Work Competencies, defined as a collection of five intrinsic value components manifested as discernible work attitudes and habits. These five core dimensions are:

• Ambition: Reflecting goal-setting and desire for advancement.
• Self-Control: Pertaining to emotional regulation and temper management in the workplace.
• Organization: Relating to orderliness, cleanliness, and systematic arrangement of work tasks and materials.
• Enthusiasm: Measuring eagerness, positive outlook toward assignments, and willingness to exert extra effort.
• Conscientiousness: Covering dependability, adherence to safety, promptness, and completion of tasks without constant supervision.

Validity

The validity of the AWCI was initially addressed through its extensive development process, which established content validity. The original instrument was comprehensive, comprising 95 items distributed across 15 hypothesized competency clusters.

To establish the construct validity of the refined 45-item instrument, a rigorous factor analysis was performed. This analysis confirmed that the items clustered logically into the five intended underlying psychological dimensions, supporting the theoretical structure of the scale.

Reliability

Internal consistency reliability was assessed using the Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (KR-20) estimates across the five identified factors. The estimates demonstrated generally acceptable to strong reliability for most subscales.

The reliability coefficients observed were: 0.64 for ambition, 0.80 for self-control, 0.76 for organization, 0.89 for enthusiasm, and 0.79 for conscientiousness. The overall range spanned from a low of 0.64 (ambition) to a high of 0.89 (enthusiasm).

Factor Analysis

The structural integrity of the AWCI was investigated through a principal components factor analysis coupled with a varimax orthogonal rotation. This procedure was executed to distill the original 95 items into a parsimonious and psychometrically sound 45-item structure.

The analysis successfully yielded five distinct factors, with all significant loadings exceeding 0.35. Collectively, these five factors accounted for a substantial portion of the total variance, specifically 76.3 percent. The final 45-item inventory is distributed across these factors as follows:

• Ambition: Four items (31, 46, 1, and 32).
• Self-Control: Eight items (65, 82, 55, 10, 69, 40, 36, and 94).
• Organization: Four items (57, 80, 92, and 83).
• Enthusiasm: Sixteen items (86, 75, 89, 77, 70, 95, 93, 64, 78, 66, 48, 79, 88, 71, 67, and 76).
• Conscientiousness: Thirteen items (30, 39, 19, 16, 58, 68, 60, 81, 24, 72, 90, 45, and 74).

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological inventory

Format: 45 items utilizing a Likert scale measurement approach to assess work attitudes, values, and habits.

Language Available: English (Original research publication language)

Population Group: Working professionals and vocational training personnel.

Age Group: Adult (Working age population)

Population Details: The validation sample included 1,485 individuals, specifically composed of 798 industrial workers, 567 industrial supervisors, and 120 vocational educators.

Test Methodology: Standardized psychometric assessment using factor analytic methods to confirm underlying competency dimensions.

Keywords

Ambition, self-control, organization, enthusiasm, conscientiousness, vocational training, intrinsic work values, industrial workers.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The primary validation study was published in 1983. Information regarding current usage permissions and associated fees must be sought directly from the primary author, P. E. Brauchle, or the journal Educational and Psychological Measurement.

Test Year: 1983 (Validation Study)

Reference’s

Brauchle, P. E., et al. (1983). The factorial validity of the Affective Work Competencies Inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement 43:603–9.

Brauchle, P. E. (1979). Self and supervisor perceptions of affective work competencies in CETA trainees: A comparative study. PhD dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia.

Morgan, K. R. (1980). The relative effect of two different methods of instruction upon the affective work competencies of trade and industrial students. PhD dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia.

Petty, G. C. (1978). Affective work competencies of workers, supervisors, and vocational educators. PhD dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia.

Items of the Affective Work Competencies Inventory

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Setting personal work/job goals
2. Setting goals for self-improvement
3. Acquiring new skills to advance in job
4. Participating in group activities
5. Becoming angry at others
6. Blowing my stack
7. Getting angry
8. Controlling temper
9. Staying angry or upset all day
10. Maintaining even temperament
11. Complaining
12. Complaining about job tasks
13. Keeping work area clear
14. Keeping work area clean and organized
15. Keeping supplies neatly arranged
16. Keeping records and files in order
17. Working hard to accomplish new goals
18. Accepting challenging assignments
19. Putting forth extra effort
20. Adjusting to change
21. Completing difficult tasks
22. Performing work eagerly
23. Speaking favorably of future work assignments
24. Completing work without constant supervision
25. Responding to greetings from coworkers
26. Listening to instructions
27. Adjusting to various work situations
28. Reading directions
29. Organizing work activities
30. Returning material and equipment to places
31. Practicing safe work habits
32. Volunteering suggestions
33. Avoiding work
34. Disturbing others who try to work
35. Reminded by others to begin work
36. Pushing work onto other workers
37. Saying one will do something and not doing it
38. Talking out of turn at group meetings
39. Gazing out the window or at the clock
40. Annoying other people
41. Interrupting others
42. Being late for work or meetings
43. Working hard only when someone is watching
44. Losing interest in work
45. Arguing about job assignments