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The concept of personal initiative: Operationalization, reliability and validity in two German samples
Author(s) -
Frese Michael,
Fay Doris,
Hilburger Tanja,
Leng Karena,
Tag Almut
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of occupational and organizational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.257
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 2044-8325
pISSN - 0963-1798
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8325.1997.tb00639.x
Subject(s) - operationalization , psychology , german , construct validity , coping (psychology) , applied psychology , test validity , scale (ratio) , predictive validity , social psychology , job satisfaction , validity , psychometrics , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , philosophy , physics , archaeology , epistemology , quantum mechanics , history
Personal initiative is conceptualized as a behavioural syndrome made up of several factors. It is important for organizational effectiveness and is one aspect of ‘contextual performance’. The construct validity of a set of interview‐ and questionnaire‐based scales for measuring initiative was ascertained in interrelated studies (two waves from a longitudinal study in East Germany [ N = 543] and a cross‐sectional study in West Germany [ N = 160]). As hypothesized, initiative correlated with partners' assessments, need for achievement, action orientation, problem‐focused and passive emotion‐focused coping, career planning and executing plans, but not with job satisfaction. Higher initiative existed in small‐scale entrepreneurs in the East and in those unemployed who got a job more quickly.