Abstract
D. Litt. et Phil.
Factor analytic techniques were used to investigate the psychometric properties of three measuring instruments, namely the Adult Career Concerns Inventory (Super, Thompson & Lindeman, 1988), the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory (Holland & Gottfredson, 1994), and the Career Resilience Questionnaire (Fourie & Van Vuuren, 1998). The analyses served the purpose of elucidating the conceptual meanings of the constructs of career concerns, career status and career resilience in adult vocational adjustment.
In an exploratory factor analysis of the Adult Career Concerns Inventory theoretical considerations suggested the extraction of four factors which explained 74% of the variance in the correlation matrix. The communalities of the variables were determined by means of squared multiple correlations of the subscales. On oblique rotation by means of Promax, a four factor solution was supported, reflecting the underlying dimensions of Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance and Disengagement. High correlations among the factors suggested the presence of a general factor, which may be termed career concerns. A factor extension analysis indicated the high quality of the test items, and a high level of correspondence between the Maintenance and Establishment factors. Maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analyses of the Adult Career Concerns Inventory were subsequently performed to test four and three factor measurement models. The estimated standardised factor pattern coefficients of both the models were found to be statistically significant. High correlations between the Maintenance and Establishment factors from the four factor model however favoured the three factor model, which allows for the merging of these two latent dimensions.
In an exploratory factor analysis of the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory use were made of constructed item parcels. Theoretical considerations suggested the extraction of nine factors, which accounted for 54% of the variance in the correlation matrix. The squared multiple correlations of the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory item parcels were used to determine the initial communalities, and the nine factors were obliquely rotated by means of Promax. With the exception of two of the parcels, the factor pattern coefficients indicated that all the item parcels could be explained by nine factors that correspond with the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory subscales, namely Job Satisfaction, Career Worries, Family Commitment, Interpersonal Abuse, Skill Development, Geographical Barriers, Risk-taking Style, Work Involvement, and Dominant Style. The relative independence of these factors were inferred from the interfactor correlation matrix. A factor extension analysis indicated the overall high quality of the test items. A maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis of the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory at item parcel-level was based on a measurement model in accordance with the nine factors mentioned above. This analysis supported the nine factor model and revealed interesting relations among the dimensions of the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory.
An exploratory factor analysis of the Career Resilience Questionnaire at item-level was also performed. Although the Kaiser criterion suggested the extraction of as many as 15 factors, and the MAP values suggested six factors, the initial communalities based on the squared multiple correlations were also considered. The initial communalities were reiterated twice, and the residual four factors accounted for 27% of the variance. An oblique rotation of the factors by means of Promax resulted in the tentative labelling of four latent dimensions, namely Leadership, Sense of Security in One’s Career, Acceptance of Uncertainty, and Values. These factors had satisfactory reliability coefficients, but no significant intercorrelations. Due to the theoretical inadequacies of this analysis, an oblique multiple groups factor analysis of the Career Resilience Questionnaire was performed in an attempt to cross-validate the factor solution reported by Fourie and Van Vuuren (1998). Low reliability coefficients of the factors were however obtained, an the postulated measurement model could not be supported.
In an interbattery factor analysis of the Adult Career Concerns Inventory and the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory both theory and reliability coefficients of various factor solutions were considered, which resulted in the extraction of six factors. The factors were rotated obliquely by means of Direct Quartimin. The resultant factor solution met theoretical expectations by indicating several shared dimensions of the two instruments. Implementation, Advancing, Holding and Updating were grouped with Career Worries and Risk-taking Style. Job Satisfaction related negatively in a shared dimension with Crystallisation, Specification, Implementation, Retirement Planning and Retirement Living. Innovation was associated with Work Involvement, Skill Development and Dominant Style. Stabilisation, Risk-Taking Style and Geographical Barriers formed a shared dimension. Deceleration and Interpersonal Abuse were likewise associated. Lastly, Family Commitment and Updating shared a negative relation within another dimension.
In essence, these factor analyses support the construct validity, theoretical generalisability, and usefulness of both the Adult Career Concerns Inventory and the Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory, but fails to support the construct validity of the Career Resilience Questionnaire. Moreover, a foundation has been laid for the theoretical integration of the constructs of career concerns and career status.