Change Scale

Category	Details
Description	The Change Scale (Trumbo, 1961) was created to explore individual and group attitudes toward work-related change. This 9-item measure uses Likert-type scales, where one item ranges from “is always the same” to “change a great deal,” and the remaining eight items range from “I strongly agree” to “I strongly disagree.” Higher scores reflect more favorable attitudes toward change. Psychometric analysis of supervisory and non-supervisory personnel responses revealed a corrected odd-even reliability coefficient of .79. Predictive validity was established by correlating Change Scale scores with perceptions and reactions to specific changes, demonstrating its effectiveness in gauging employee attitudes toward organizational transitions.
Test Type	Original
Instrument Type	Rating Scale
Construct	Employee Attitudes toward Work-Related Change
Author	Trumbo, Don A. (Kansas State University)
Purpose	To measure employee attitudes toward work-related change.
Test Year	1961
Administration Method	Paper
Format	9 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale. One item ranges from “is always the same” to “change a great deal,” and the other eight items range from “I strongly agree” to “I strongly disagree.”
Number of Items	9 items
Reliability	Internal consistency: Corrected odd-even reliability coefficient of .79 based on supervisory and non-supervisory personnel responses.
Validity	Predictive validity: Change Scale scores were significantly associated with perceptions of change and favorable/unfavorable responses to specific changes, confirming their ability to predict employee attitudes.
Factor Analysis	Not indicated
Test Methodology	Test Validity; Predictive Validity; Test Reliability; Internal Consistency
Age Group	Adulthood (18 years and older)
Population Group	Human; Male; Female; Sample: Supervisory and Non-Supervisory Personnel
Keywords	Change Scale; Internal Consistency; Predictive Validity; Test Development
Index Terms	Employee Attitudes; Internal Consistency; Organizational Change; Predictive Validity; Test Construction; Test Reliability; Test Validity; Work (Attitudes Toward)
Classification	7000 Organizational, Occupational, and Career Development
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1037/t19609-000

Reference

Trumbo, D. A. (1961). Individual and group correlates of attitudes toward work-related changes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 45(5), 338–344. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040464

Change Scale

 

• 1. The job that you would consider ideal for you would be one where the way you do your work:
  (five choices from “is always the same” to “change a great deal”).
  Each of the remaining eight items had five alternatives from “I strongly agree,” to “I strongly disagree.”
• 2. If I could do as I pleased, I would change the kind of work I do every few months.
• 3. One can never feel at ease on a job where the ways of doing things are always being changed.
• 4. The trouble with most jobs is that you just get used to doing things in one way and then they want you to
  do them differently.
• 5. I would prefer to stay with a job that I know I can handle than to change to one where most things would
  be new to me.
• 6. The trouble with many people is that when they find a job they can do well, they don’t stick with it.
• 7. I like a job where I know that I will be doing my work about the same way from one week to the next.
• 8. When I get used to doing things in one way it is disturbing to have to change to a new method.
• 9. It would take a sizeable raise in pay to get me to voluntarily transfer to another job.