Job-related Affective Well-being Scale – JAWS
Measures the frequency of positive and negative emotional reactions that employees experience in response to their job.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Job-related Affective Well-being Scale – JAWS was developed by Paul T. Van Katwyk, Spector, P. E., Fox, S., & Kelloway, E. K. (2000). It is designed to measure Job-related Affective Well-being. The scale is intended for use with Working adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 30 items organized into 6 factors/subscales: Positive Emotion, Negative Emotion, High pleasurable-High arousal, High pleasurable-Low arousal, Low pleasurable-High arousal, Low pleasurable-Low arousal.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Positive Emotion | 1,6,7,9,13,14,15,16,17,23,25,27,28,29,30 | 15 |
| Negative Emotion | 2,3,4,5,8,10,11,12,18,19,20,21,22,24,26 | 15 |
| High pleasurable-High arousal | 14,15,16,17,25 | 5 |
| High pleasurable-Low arousal | 1,7,9,29,30 | 5 |
| Low pleasurable-High arousal | 2,4,11,18,20 | 5 |
| Low pleasurable-Low arousal | 5,10,12,21,22 | 5 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Never, 2 = Rarely, 3 = Sometimes, 4 = Quite Often, 5 = Very Often, 6 = Extremely often.
The scale includes 15 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are scored by subscale, with each subscale sum representing a distinct dimension.
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Positive emotion: .94, Negative emotion: .92, Total: .95.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.