Career-Family Attitudes Scale – CFA
Measures employee attitudes toward managing their career and family interface, assessing expectations for oneself and one's spouse.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Career-Family Attitudes Scale – CFA was developed by Sanders, M. M., Lengnick-Hall, M. L., Lengnick-Hall, C. A., & Steele-Clapp, L. (1998). It is designed to measure Career-family attitudes and conflict management expectations. The scale is intended for use with Adults / Employees entering the labor force.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 50 items organized into 7 factors/subscales: Family focus (I defer), Family focus (Someone defers), Balance, Career focus, Dominance, Spousal support, Independence.
| Factor / Subscale | Items | N |
|---|---|---|
| Family focus (I defer) | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 | 10 |
| Family focus (Someone defers) | 11,12,13,14 | 4 |
| Balance | 15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24 | 10 |
| Career focus | 25,26,27,28,29,30 | 6 |
| Dominance | 31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39 | 9 |
| Spousal support | 40,41,42,43,44,45,46 | 7 |
| Independence | 47,48,49,50 | 4 |
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a 7-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree).
The scale includes 7 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 Family focus: .78, Balance: .78, Career focus: .84, Dominance: .75, Spousal support: .67.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.