Questionnaire of Professional Field Preferences for Psychology Students (CPsy)

Abstract

The Cuestionario de Preferencias de Campos Profesionales Para Estudiantes de Psicología (CPsy), translated as the Career Field Preference Questionnaire for Psychology Students, is a specialized psychometric inventory developed in 2023 by Varela-Jaramillo et al. Its primary objective is to systematically evaluate the career preferences of psychology students. The instrument is unique in that it integrates the three fundamental dimensions of vocational orientation—interests, abilities, and personality traits—specific to nine distinct professional fields within psychology.

The development process was rigorous, starting with an extensive review that generated 134 initial items. Following content validity assessment by expert judges using the Lawshe Content Validity Index, 117 items were retained. These were administered to a sample of psychology students in Colombian universities. Subsequent Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) supported a robust nine-factor structure, resulting in a final scale of 94 items. The CPsy demonstrates strong internal consistency, with general reliability indices for the total scale ranging from 0.913 to 0.993, confirming its potential as a reliable tool for vocational guidance in this population.

Keywords

Professional Field Preferences, Psychology Students, Clinical and Health Psychology, Educational and Development Psychology, Forensic and Legal Psychology, Marketing and Consumer Psychology, Neuropsychology, Organizational and Work Psychology, Social and Community Psychology, Sports Psychology, Vocational Guidance, Occupational Preference, Internal Consistency, Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Authors

Varela-Jaramillo, Mariana, Casteñeda, Santiago Ramírez, Santacruz, Andrea, Munevar, Fernando Riveros

Purpose

The core purpose of the CPsy questionnaire is to provide a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the professional aspirations and career preferences held by students currently studying psychology. By mapping these preferences across specific sub-disciplines, the instrument aids in informed career planning and effective vocational guidance interventions.

This assessment is crucial for both students and academic institutions, allowing for better alignment between student interests and specialized academic paths, ultimately supporting higher retention and satisfaction rates in the field of psychology.

Construct

The CPsy measures the construct of professional field preference, conceptualized as a multidimensional variable encompassing three integrated components: specific professional interests, perceived professional abilities, and relevant personality traits characteristic of successful professionals within each psychological sub-field.

The scale evaluates preferences across nine distinct professional domains: Clinical and Health Psychology, Organizational and Labor Psychology, Marketing and Consumer Psychology, Neuropsychology, Sports Psychology, Forensic and Legal Psychology, Educational and Development Psychology, Basic and Experimental Psychology, and Social and Community Psychology. This structure ensures a broad and detailed assessment of the complex career landscape available to psychology graduates.

Validity

The CPsy established its psychometric soundness primarily through a rigorous evaluation of Content Validity. The initial item pool of 134 items underwent comprehensive review by a panel of expert judges. This process involved consulting two experts specifically for each of the nine professional fields, supplemented by four additional experts who reviewed the overall test structure.

The evaluation utilized the Lawshe Content Validity Index (Tristan, 2008). This stringent review process successfully retained 117 items, all of which achieved a Lawshe index greater than 0.6, thereby establishing high content relevance and supporting their inclusion in the final questionnaire administered to the student sample.

Reliability

The reliability of the CPsy was robustly demonstrated through measures of Internal Consistency. The general reliability indices for the total scale indicated exceptional coherence, spanning a range from 0.913 to 0.993.

Similarly, the internal consistency for the individual factors was found to be high, with indices ranging from 0.846 to 0.973. Further analysis confirmed strong inter-item relationships, as correlations between items were consistently greater than 0.4 for each factor, and correlations between items and the total score of their respective factors exceeded 0.5, reinforcing the strong coherence and reliability of the nine underlying subscales.

Factor Analysis

An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed to determine the underlying structure of the CPsy. The analysis successfully identified a clear and robust structure defined by nine distinct factors, aligning perfectly with the nine professional fields the scale was designed to measure.

A key finding of the EFA was the clean factor loading pattern: factors were well-defined with no shared loads, meaning every retained item loaded uniquely onto only one factor. The final 94-item structure explained 58.8% of the total variance. Goodness-of-fit indicators supported the nine-factor model, reporting an acceptable TLI value of 0.870, a CFI of 0.899, and an adequate RMSEA value of 0.049.

Instrument

Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire

Format: The CPsy utilizes a Likert-type scale for responses. The rating scale is designed with four options, ranging from 1 (“totally in disagreement”) to 4 (“totally in agreement”).

Language Available: Spanish

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older); Young Adulthood (18-29 years); Thirties (30-39 years)

Population Details: The study participants were psychology students enrolled in Colombian universities, spanning an age range of 18 to 39 years.

Test Methodology: The methodology employed in the development and validation of the scale included Test Validity, Content Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, and Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Keywords

CPsy, Cuestionario de Preferencias de Campos Profesionales en Psicología, Career Field Preference Questionnaire for Psychology Students, Psychometric Scale, Vocational Interests, Organizational Psychology, Neuropsychology, Forensic Psychology, Lawshe Index.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses:

• Varela-Jaramillo, Mariana: Affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana. Email: [email protected]

• Casteñeda, Santiago Ramírez: Affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana. Email: [email protected]

• Santacruz, Andrea: Affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana. Email: [email protected]

• Munevar, Fernando Riveros: Affiliation: Universidad de La Sabana. Email: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Munevar, Fernando Riveros: Universidad de La Sabana, Campus del Puente del Común, Km. 7, Autopista Norte de Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Chía, Colombia, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact Corresponding Author

Commercial: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

References

Varela-Jaramillo, M., Casteñeda, S. R., Santacruz, A., & Munevar, F. R. (2023). Desarrollo de un cuestionario de preferencias de campos profesionales para estudiantes de psicología [Development of a career field preference scale for psychology students]. Revista Brasileira de Orientação Profissional, 24(1), 71–86. https://doi.org/10.1037/e505292025-006

Items of the Cuestionario de Preferencias de Campos Profesionales Para Estudiantes de Psicología (CPsy)

Number of Items: This measure consists of 94 items.

Test Items Available: No data is Available

Test Location: 2025-44741-006, Appendix A, Pages 82-85

Factors and Subscales: The CPsy is structured around nine factors (subscales):

• Social and Community Psychology

• Marketing and Consumer Psychology

• Sports Psychology

• Neuropsychology

• Organizational and Work Psychology

• Forensic and Legal Psychology

• Research Methodology

• Educational and Development Psychology

• Clinical and Health Psychology