Recommendations for Conceptualizing and Measuring Constructs Within Psychology of Working Theory

Abstract

Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) has been increasingly adopted by counseling and vocational psychologists since its inception in 2016, and approximately 100 quantitative studies to date have tested various propositions of the Theory. As a relatively new theory, there has been lack of consistency in how the main constructs are conceptualized and measured by scholars, thus limiting further application of PWT. The following paper is aimed at addressing this inconsistency by providing a guide for researchers interested in using PWT as a theoretical framework in their studies. First, we provide an overview of PWT and the definitions of its core constructs: economic constraints, marginalization, work volition, career adaptability, decent work, and need satisfaction. Then, we review quantitative studies conducted to date to show how each of the constructs have been conceptualized and measured. Finally, we provide specific recommendations that researchers can follow in their future studies based on this review. It is hoped that the recommendations can provide a more streamlined way of measuring the constructs as well as ideas for researchers to expand the psychology of working literature.

The Eco-Generativity Scale-Short Form: A Multidimensional Item Response Theory Analysis in University Students

“…Adequate homogeneity, good internal consistency, adequate discrimination, and ordered difficulty parameters provided preliminary evidence of the psychometric properties for the EGS-SF. This brief scale takes into account both the traditional accountability frame, suggesting short scales to preserve cost-effectiveness during administrations (Whiston, 2001), and the current parsimonious perspective (Duffy et al, 2023), aimed to decrease the participants' burden using reliable short measures. However, limitations have to be highlighted.…”

“The Hustle’s Real”: Exploring Outdoor Recreation Careers Using the Psychology of Working Theory

“…National organizations such as the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable or Association for Outdoor Recreation & Education (AORE) could lead this kind of important research. (Guidance for conceptualizing and measuring PWT constructs can be found in Duffy et al, 2024).…”

Predictors of Work Fulfillment and General Well-Being in Workers With Chiari Malformation: The Importance of Decent Work

“…Since its recent publication, PWT has received considerable empirical support, most of which has focused on the posited predictors of decent work. Indeed, a recent review by Duffy et al (2023) found that almost 100 empirical studies have been published to date using the theory. The majority of these studies focused on variables predicting decent work across a wide array of populations, mainly with working adults with some type of marginalized status (e.g., Autin, Williams, et al, 2022;England et al, 2020;Williams et al, 2023).…”

“…In the original PWT model, marginalization experiences were intended to be measured as those occurring across the lifespan, whereas in the current study we focus on specific experiences of marginalization within the workplace that may be prevalent with our sample. This approachwhich does deviate from the original PWT modelwas recommended as an appropriate extension in the recent Duffy et al (2023) review article. Namely, they encouraged authors to extend the model in theory consistent ways to better study specific populations.…”