A Pilot Study to Assess the Psychometric Properties of the Job Apathy Scale with Russian Employees

Abstract

Background. The Job Apathy Scale (JAS), developed by G.B. Schmidt (2017), has been widely used in industrial and organizational psychology. This scale examines two dimensions of job apathy, namely apathetic thought (weak interest in the job processes and unwillingness to develop strategies for the promotion of job efficacy) and apathetic action (investing little emotional energy in job tasks, coworkers, or the organization). Objectives. 1) To examine the psychometric properties of the JAS with Russian employees; 2) to assess the influence of sociodemographic characteristics on job apathy. Design. The sample was recruited using the convenience sampling method. Two hundred and seventy-five Russian employees were included in this cross-sectional study. In addition to the JAS, all participants completed measures assessing professional burnout, work engagement, and job satisfaction. Cronbach’s alpha values were used to assess the internal consistency of the JAS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to examine the factor structure of the JAS. The nonparametric Spearman rank order correlation coefficient was used to examine the convergent and divergent validity of the JAS. The Student’s t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to assess the sociodemographic differences in job apathy. Results. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-dimensional structure of the JAS. The Cronbach’s alpha values were .86 and .73 for the apathetic thought scale and the apathetic action scale, respectively. Job apathy was positively correlated with professional burnout and was negatively correlated with work engagement and job satisfaction. There is evidence of convergent and divergent validity of the JAS. The analysis using a one-way ANOVA revealed a significant effect of age and marital status on job apathy: Younger and married employees are more prone to apathetic action than their older and single colleagues. Conclusion. The JAS with the Russian employees is psychometrically reliable and valid, which argues for its scientific and practice-oriented applications.