Reliability and structural validity of an assessment of occupational value

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the American English (Am. Eng.) version of the Occupational Value Assessment with predefined items (OVal-pd). The OVal-pd is a 26-item Likert-like questionnaire designed to assess the construct of occupational value as framed within the Value and Meaning in Occupations model (ValMO). Following a translation from the Swedish OVal-pd, 277 randomly selected graduate and undergraduate students from a public university in the northwestern United Stated completed the Am. Eng. OVal-pd. Test-retest and internal consistency reliability coefficients were very good utilizing an improved 22-item version of the OVal-pd. The structural validity of the 22-item Am. Eng. OVap-pd was partly confirmed through exploratory factor analysis. The scale was found to assess a one-dimensional value construct supporting the ValMO model, consisting of components clearly reflective of self-reward and concrete value. Exploratory factor analysis results were equivocal with regard to the symbolic dimension of the ValMO model as assessed by the OVal-pd. Discussion suggests the refinement of both the OVal-pd and ValMO model in the light of present and related empirical findings.