A Scale for the Measurement of Initiative

Abstract

Summary Initiative is one of the traits stressed in the selection and placement of personnel, particularly those being considered for higher positions. Because of the importance of this trait, an attempt was made to develop a scale for measuring it. On the basis of responses of college students on an occupational objectives questionnaire two criterion groups were formed, one for whom initiative was important and another for whom it was unimportant. These students also took a forced‐choice inventory and an item analysis was performed to locate differentiating items. These items were grouped together to form a scale of initiative. The inventory was considered to possess satisfactory validity since it correlated positively with ratings of initiative, job success in supervisory positions, occupational level, and job success in management positions, and negatively with job success in routine line positions.

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