The concept of personal initiative: Operationalization, reliability and validity in two German samples

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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.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
Volume70
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)139-161
Number of pages23
ISSN0963-1798
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.06.1997
Externally publishedYes

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