The Positive Career Goal Discrepancy Scale: Development and Initial Validation

Abstract

The 15-item Positive Career Goal Discrepancy Scale was developed to assess emerging adults’ appraisals of the extent to which their current career progress exceeds their set career goals. We generated 32 items based on a literature review, focus groups, and expert reviews, used EFA ( N = 244, M age 18.7 years; 65% women) to reduce the number of items, and CFA ( N = 254, M age 18.7 years; 68% women) to confirm the factor structure and demonstrate superior reliability at the total score level (ω reliability = .91). Validity testing demonstrated that the scale was distinct from a measure of negative career goal discrepancy and related, as expected, to constructs in the nomological net: correlated positively with career satisfaction and optimism, and negatively with negative career goal discrepancy. The scale is a useful addition to the career literature and is likely to stimulate research into positive career goal progress in young people.