Career Decision-Making Ambiguity Scale

Abstract

The Career Decision-Making Ambiguity (CDMA) Scale, developed by Xu in 2023, is an 8-item instrument designed to assess decision ambiguity within the context of career decision-making. The development of this measure addressed a gap in existing tools for evaluating decision ambiguity, drawing inspiration from the dual process theory of career decision-making (DTC; Xu, 2021a; 2021b). The author adhered to Worthington and Whittaker’s (2006) guidelines during its development. Initially, 16 items were generated, with 12 derived from the Career Decision Ambiguity Response Scale-Revised (CDAR-R; Xu & Tracey, 2015; 2017a) and an additional 4 items informed by a review of career decision-making literature. This measure was administered to U.S. college students. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a unidimensional structure, leading to the retention of 8 items. The scale’s internal consistency, as well as its convergent, discriminant, concurrent, and incremental validities, have been reported.

Keywords

Career Decision-Making, Career Decision-Making Process, Decision Ambiguity, Dual-Process Theory of Career Decision-Making, Incremental Validity

Authors

Xu, Hui

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the CDMA Scale is to assess decision ambiguity specifically within the context of career decision-making.

Validity

Convergent Validity: The CDMA demonstrated strong positive associations with the need for information (r = .60, p < .001), supporting its convergent validity.

Discriminant Validity: While all associations were positive, the CDMA’s stronger correlation with the need for information compared to neuroticism/negative affectivity, lack of readiness, and interpersonal conflicts provided evidence for its discriminant validity.

Concurrent Validity: The scale exhibited a positive association with choice/commitment anxiety (r = .63, p < .001), indicating strong concurrent validity.

Incremental Validity: The CDMA was found to incrementally predict career decidedness (△F (1267) = 4.89, p = .028), career certainty (△F (1267) = 8.32, p = .004), and major satisfaction (△F (1265) = 8.80, p = .003) even after controlling for the need for information as a baseline predictor. These findings supported the hypothesized incremental predictions of the CDMA.

Reliability

Internal Consistency: The final 8-item version of the CDMA Scale demonstrated high internal consistency, with an alpha coefficient of .90.

Factor Analysis

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): Parallel analysis (Horn, 1965) suggested a unidimensional structure for the CDMA Scale. Although principal-axis factoring initially indicated a three-factor structure (based on eigenvalues >1), these three factors lacked clear conceptual distinctions, and only one factor was above the elbow of the scree plot. Based on these conceptual and empirical considerations, a unidimensional structure was chosen as the optimal factor model, accounting for 45.42% of the total variance. The final eight items were selected based on their loadings and content representation, with all retained items exhibiting loadings greater than .67.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): CFA was used to compare three competing models: a one-factor model, a 4-factor oblique model, and a 4-factor bifactor model. The one-factor model showed excellent fit to the data, with the following fit indices: χ²/df (29.68/20), RMSEA (.042), SRMR (.05), AIC (5919.67), and CFI (.97).

Instrument: Career Decision-Making Ambiguity Scale (CDMA Scale)

Test Type: Original Inventory/Questionnaire

Format: The CDMA Scale utilizes a 7-point Likert scale, with response options ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). Higher scores on the scale indicate a greater degree of decision ambiguity. The administration method is electronic.

Language Available: English

Population Group: Human (Male, Female)

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years & older)

Population Details: The measure was administered to college students in the United States.

Test Methodology: The development and validation of the CDMA Scale involved several psychometric methodologies, including: Test Validity (Concurrent Validity, Convergent Validity, Criterion Validity, Discriminant Validity), Test Reliability (Internal Consistency), and Factor Analysis (Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis).

Keywords

Career Decision-Making Ambiguity

Authors

Author: Xu, Hui

Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5282-4819

Affiliation: Loyola University Chicago School of Education

Email Addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Xu, Hui: Loyola University Chicago, School of Education, 820 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: The CDMA Scale may be used for research and teaching purposes.

Fee: No fee is required for its use.

Test Year: 2023

References

Xu, H. (2023). Development and initial validation of the Career Decision-Making Ambiguity Scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 31(3), 536–554. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727221125886

Items of the Career Decision-Making Ambiguity Scale (CDMA Scale)

The CDMA Scale consists of 8 items. The specific items can be found in Table 1 on page 543 of the source reference: Xu, H. (2023). Development and initial validation of the Career Decision-Making Ambiguity Scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 31(3), 536–554.

Career Decision-Making Ambiguity Scale

Items

• I struggle to find a career that is not only desirable but also realistic.

• I need to sort out complex aspects of multiple careers.

• There is a good deal of unfamiliar information for me to make sense of.

• The impact of my career choice cannot be foreseen clearly.

• Information I have points to different career directions.

• I sense a good chance of changing my career in the future.

• There always seem to be areas that I do not know or have never thought of.

• There seems no obvious right or wrong answer in my decision-making.

Note: Items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree).