Spanish-Language Adaptation of Morgeson and Humphrey’s Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ)

• Published in: The Spanish journal of psychology 2017-06, Vol.20, p.E28-E28, Article E28
• Main Authors: Fernández Ríos, Manuel, Ramírez Vielma, Raúl G., Sánchez García, José Carlos, Bargsted Aravena, Mariana, Polo Vargas, Jean David, Ruiz Díaz, Miguel Ángel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adult; Effectiveness; Employment; Factor structures; Female; Formal organization; Goodness of fit; Humans; Job characteristics; Job design; Male; Occupations; Productivity; Professional development; Psychology; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Questionnaires; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Social, Educational and Work Psychology; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Work; Workers; Working conditions
• ISSN: 1138-7416; 1988-2904
• DOI: 10.1017/sjp.2017.24

Since work organizations became the subject of scientific research, how to operationalize and measure dimensions of work design has been an issue, mainly due to concerns about internal consistency and factor structure. In response, Morgeson and Humphrey (2006) built the Work Design Questionnaire –WDQ–, an instrument that identifies and measures these dimensions in different work and organizational contexts. This paper presents the instruent’s adaptation into Spanish using reliability and validity analysis and drawing on a sample of 1035 Spanish workers who hold various jobs in an array of occupational categories. The total instrument’s internal consistency was Cronbach’s alpha of .92 and the various scales’ reliability ranged from .70 to .96, except for three dimensions. There was initially a difference in the comparative fit of the two versions’ factor structures, but the model with 21 work characteristics (motivational -task and knowledge-, social, and work context) showed the highest goodness of fit of the various models tested, confirming previous results from the U.S. version as well as adaptations into other languages and contexts. CFA results indicated goodness of fit of factor configurations corresponding to each of the four major categories of work characteristics, with CFI and TLI around .90, as well as SRMR and RMSEA below .08. Thus it brings to the table a reliable, valid measure of work design with clear potential applications in research as well as professional practice, applications that could improve working conditions, boost productivity, and generate more personal and professional development opportunities for workers.