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Analyzing Models of Career Decision Self-Efficacy: First-Order, Hierarchical, and Bifactor Models of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale

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Abstract

The goal of the study was to examine the dimensionality of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (CDSES-SF, Betz et al. 1996). Integrating several previous findings from different cultures, we found that the bifactor structure of the CDSES-SF on a Hungarian sample of 649 respondents showed the best model fit. This structure includes a general CDSE factor covering 15 items and the original five specific factors (self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection, planning, and problem solving) covering three items each. This short form of CDSES shows an acceptable model fit and appropriate reliability in terms of the Cronbach’s alpha and omega values. Regarding career decision self-efficacy, a large proportion of variance was explained by the general factor and to a smaller extent by the specific factors. These results can be considered as a first step in resolving the paradox of the dimensionality of CDSES-SF.

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Notes

  1. After identifying the full bifactor model, upon the request of the reviewers, we tested a partial bifactor model in which only the significant loadings of two specific factors (problem solving and goal selection) were retained. However, the first-order derivative product matrix was not positive definite, indicating multiple problems with this solution. Therefore, we retained the full bifactor model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Doctoral School of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Izabella utca 46, Budapest, H-1064, Hungary

    Réka Török

  2. Faculty of Education and Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary

    István Tóth-Király, Beáta Bőthe & Gábor Orosz

  3. MTA Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Budapest, Hungary

    Gábor Orosz

Authors
  1. Réka Török
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  2. István Tóth-Király
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  3. Beáta Bőthe
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  4. Gábor Orosz
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Correspondence to Réka Török.

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Funding Sources

The last author (GO) was supported by the Hungarian Research Fund: PD 106027, PD 116686.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Török, R., Tóth-Király, I., Bőthe, B. et al. Analyzing Models of Career Decision Self-Efficacy: First-Order, Hierarchical, and Bifactor Models of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale. Curr Psychol 36, 764–773 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9464-9

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