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DEFINING PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT CONSTRUCT: ANALYSIS OF THREE EMPOWERMENT SCALES
Author(s) -
Miguel Marta C.,
Ornelas José H.,
Maroco João P.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.21721
Subject(s) - intrapersonal communication , empowerment , psychology , formative assessment , competence (human resources) , construct (python library) , social psychology , population , confirmatory factor analysis , applied psychology , structural equation modeling , interpersonal communication , pedagogy , computer science , sociology , political science , demography , machine learning , law , programming language
This study aimed to contribute to the validation of psychological empowerment, which is a combination of sense of control (intrapersonal component), critical awareness of the sociopolitical environment (interactional component), and community involvement (behavioral component). Three scales of empowerment used to evaluate the 3 components were translated into Portuguese, adapted for the Portuguese population, and applied in person, by phone and by e‐mail. Participants were enrolled in or had completed a program of recognition of prior learning. We tested reflective and formative measurement models and the results suggested that a reflective model fits the data better than a formative one. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed psychological empowerment as a hierarchical third‐order factor. Second‐order factors correspond to the intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral empowerment components, reflected in first‐order factors: leadership competence, policy control, source of power, nature of power, instruments of power, and participation behaviors.