Development and Validation of the Decent Work for Inclusive and Sustainable Future Construction Scale in Italy

Abstract

Although different assessment instruments have been developed to assess decent work, there is a need for a new instrument that takes into consideration the importance of decent work in achieving sustainable development. This article reports the development and psychometric requisites of the Decent Work for Inclusive and Sustainable Future Construction Scale, that is, a parsimonious measure regarding the perception of decent work for an inclusive and sustainable career construction. Overall, the research involved 1626 Italian adults, 740 men (45.5%) and 886 women (54.5%), aged between 16 and 76 years (M = 26.17; SD = 9.42), that were randomly involved in 1 of the 5 studies. Study 1 developed the scale and found the unidimensional structure of the scale via exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In Study 2, we confirmed the unidimensional structure of the six items based on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Study 3 examined the concurrent validity of the scale, finding positive correlations with meaningful work and life satisfaction. With Study 4, we provided measurement invariance across gender. Finally, Study 5 tested a model in which the tendency toward a social and equitable socio-economic view in career activities predicted decent work through career curiosity. Results provided strong psychometric support for Decent Work for Inclusive and Sustainable Future Construction Scale as a valid unidimensional instrument that, compared to the already existing scales, proposes the evaluation of decent work from a broad perspective that also looks at inclusion and sustainability.