Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in a French-speaking Swiss sample: Psychometric properties and relationships to personality and work engagement

• Published in: Journal of vocational behavior 2012-06, Vol.80 (3), p.734-743
• Main Authors: Rossier, Jérôme, Zecca, Gregory, Stauffer, Sarah D., Maggiori, Christian, Dauwalder, Jean-Pierre
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptability; Age Differences; Career Adapt-Abilities; Career development planning; Careers; Employee involvement; Factor Structure; Foreign Countries; French; Gender Differences; Measures (Individuals); NEO Five Factor Inventory; Occupational psychology; Personality; Personality traits; Psychometrics; Quantitative psychology; Switzerland; Test Reliability; Validation studies; Vocational Adjustment; Work Attitudes; Work engagement; Zuckerman Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire
• ISSN: 0001-8791; 1095-9084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2012.01.004

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) in a French-speaking Swiss sample and its relationship with personality dimensions and work engagement. The heterogeneous sample of 391 participants (Mage=39.59, SD=12.30) completed the CAAS-International and a short version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. To assess personality dimensions, participants completed either the Zuckerman–Kuhlman–Aluja Personality Questionnaire (n=283) or the NEO-FFI-R (n=108). The internal consistencies for the four subscales and total scores of the CAAS ranged from good to excellent, and skewness and kurtosis values indicated that scores were normally distributed. Gender differences and correlations with age were small or negligible. Several CFA models confirmed the factor structure of the French version of the CAAS-International, with loadings very similar to the ones observed for the international form. Adaptability was related to different personality dimensions, particularly neuroticism and conscientiousness, and also to work engagement. When predicting work engagement, career adaptability had a significant incremental validity over personality dimensions. Finally, career adaptability partially moderated the relationship between personality and work engagement, suggesting that career adaptability also contributes to regulating the expression of personality dispositions. ► Describes the psychometric characteristics of Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in a French-speaking Swiss sample. ► Examines the relationships between career adaptability, personality, and work engagement. ► Reports that career adaptability partially moderated the relationship between personality and work engagement.