Validation of the Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale in a Sample of Chinese Employees.

Jiaxi Peng,Weizhuo Yuan,Jiaxi Zhang,Junxiao Gui,Xinzhou Zhou,Xia Zhu,Zhengwei Wan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.755134

Abstract

Occupational self-efficacy, which refers to the belief that one is competent to fulfill work-related tasks or activities, has attracted increasing attention in recent years. The six-item version of the Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (OSS-6) is an excellent tool for evaluating occupational self-efficacy; however, there is currently no report of the reliability and validity of the OSS-6 among Chinese people. This study aimed to translate the OSS-6 into Chinese and evaluate its reliability and validity in a sample of Chinese employees. A total of 433 junior staff at several firms completed the Chinese version of the OSS-6, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, the in-role performance scale, and the career calling scale. Four weeks later, 94 participants were recalled and were retested using the OSS-6. Factor analysis results supported the one-factor model of the OSS-6. Excellent internal consistency was obtained with the OSS-6. Additionally, the OSS-6 results were significantly correlated with general self-efficacy, self-esteem, job satisfaction, in-role performance, and career calling. Furthermore, occupational self-efficacy was found to partially mediate the effects of career calling on job satisfaction and in-role performance. The results of this study supported the cross-cultural consistency of the structure of the OSS-6 and showed that the Chinese version of the OSS-6 demonstrated excellent validity and reliability. Therefore, the Chinese version of the OSS-6 can be used as an assessment tool for evaluating occupational self-efficacy in future studies.

Highlights

Self-efficacy is the belief, judgment, and self-perception that one can accomplish a task (Hsu et al, 2019; Marsh et al, 2019)
The results showed that the 95% confidence intervals for the indirect effect of career calling on the job satisfaction through occupational self-efficacy were 0.10– 0.23, which again did not overlap with zero
This study offers an effective tool for performing relevant research on occupational self-efficacy in China, and it validates the applicability of the Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (OSS)-6 in Chinese culture, which further supports its cross-cultural consistency

Summary

Introduction

Self-efficacy is the belief, judgment, and self-perception that one can accomplish a task (Hsu et al, 2019; Marsh et al, 2019). Self-efficacy can be divided into general self-efficacy and domainspecific self-efficacy (Löve et al, 2012; Azizli et al, 2015). Bandura (1993) maintains that activities differ among domains and that different activities require different abilities and skills; the self-efficacy of an individual may differ depending on the task. Self-efficacy is always related to specific domains (Paunonen and Hong, 2010). Compared with general self-efficacy, domainspecific self-efficacy can better predict people’s cognitive abilities and behaviors in specific domains (Paunonen and Hong, 2010; Grether et al, 2018).

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Discussion

Conclusion