A Measurement Scale for Indecisiveness and its Relationship to Career Indecision and Other Types of Indecision

Abstract

Summary:A scale for indecisiveness was constructed and then used to investigate distinctive features of indecisiveness. In the literature on decision making, the distinction between indecision and indecisiveness is an important issue, but evidence showing that these two constructs are different is lacking. We found clear evidence for such a distinction, from a joint exploratory factor analysis of the indecisiveness scale and a career indecision scale, and from the differential relation of both with self-esteem as a third variable. Furthermore, with confirmatory factor analysis, we found that the correlations between items on career indecision cannot be explained only by indecisiveness, and that also a factor specific to the situation of career decision is needed. These results corroborate the distinction between career indecision and indecisiveness. Although it must be differentiated from specific types of indecision, such as career indecision, indecisiveness turned out to be a correlate of the specific indecisions -one that can explain the intercorrelations between different kinds of more specific indecision.

Career indecision and career exploration among older French adolescents: The specific role of general trait anxiety and future school and career anxiety

“…In addition, career decisionmaking problems and career indecisiveness were positively related in some studies (e.g. Germeijs & De Boeck, 2002;Germeijs, Verschueren, & Soenens, 2006;Öztemel, 2013). For Van Martre and Cooper (1984), career indecision is a state of indecision, a transitory step in the vocational decision-making process, while career indecisiveness refers to a trait based on stable personal characteristics.…”

“…A native English speaker familiar with the content of the scale back-translated the 22 items. The scale that was initially (Germeijs & De Boeck, 2002) a measure of general indecision was amended to assess career indecision. Difficulty making decisions stems from three sources: lack of information, value-estimation problems, and uncertainty about outcomes.…”

Reluctant employees and felt stress: The moderating impact of manager decisiveness

“…Felt stress is measured with four items from the Netemeyer et al's (2005) scale. Decisiveness is measured using six items with high factor loadings from the scale developed by Germeijs and De Boeck (2002). Finally, turnover intention is measured using a widely accepted single-item instrument developed by Spector (1985)-"how often have you seriously considered quitting your present job?"…”

The portrait of the procrastinator: Risk factors and results of an indecisive personality

“…This leads to external attributions to task difficulty in order to discount their role in any poor task performance. Decisional procrastination can be disastrous in the context of making impactful choices, such as in careers (Germeijs & De Boeck, 2002;Salomone, 1982) or relationships (Ferrari & Emmons, 1994).…”