The Psychometric Properties and Effectiveness of the Approach-Avoidance Job Crafting Scale among Chinese Kindergarten Teachers

Xiaoqing Lin; Runkai Jiao; Feifei Li; Di Lu; Hang Yin; Xintong Jiang

doi:10.3390/bs13110882

The Psychometric Properties and Effectiveness of the Approach-Avoidance Job Crafting Scale among Chinese Kindergarten Teachers

Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Oct 25;13(11):882. doi: 10.3390/bs13110882.

Authors

Xiaoqing Lin¹, Runkai Jiao^{1

2}, Feifei Li³, Di Lu⁴, Hang Yin¹, Xintong Jiang¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China.
² National Training Center for Kindergarten Principals, Ministry of Education, Changchun 130024, China.
³ College of Education, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou 325035, China.
⁴ Medical Humanities Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, China.

Abstract

Job crafting is an important concept associated with many positive outcomes, particularly for kindergarten teachers. Specifically, job crafting can play a key role in improving kindergarten teachers' work experiences and reducing professional dysfunction, considering their stressful work environment. However, the existing scale that integrates the most accepted theories of job crafting-approach-avoidance theory-has not been examined for efficacy in a multicultural context. Thus, in this study, 1273 Chinese kindergarten teachers were selected as subjects to explore the psychological properties of the German version of the Approach-Avoidance Job Crafting Scale (AAJCS) within the Chinese culture context. The sample was randomly divided into two subsamples. In Sample 1 (N = 618), item analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. In Sample 2 (N = 655), CFA, reliability, and criterion-related validity tests were conducted. The results showed that job crafting has two independent components, each containing four factors, and the third-order model had the best fit. The reliability and validity of the scale were good, suggesting that AAJCS is an appropriate tool for measuring job crafting in a kindergarten population. Future research is needed to test the validity and reliability of the AAJCS on other populations.

Keywords: approach job crafting; avoidance job crafting; kindergarten teachers; psychometric properties.

Grants and funding

This study has been supported by the graduate research funding project of the School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University. (Project Name: Neural mechanisms of attentional capture and suppression of differently associated stimuli in non-targeted working memory representations).