Calling: The Development of a Scale Measure

Abstract

This study clarifies the definition of calling—a consuming, meaningful passion people experience toward a domain—and develops a 12‐item scale measure of calling. Drawing on multiwave longitudinal, 2‐wave longitudinal, and cross‐sectional data from 1,500 participants (2,278 observations) in 4 separate domains, music, art, business, and management, we demonstrate the scale's reliability and unidimensional structure across contexts and over time. We establish the scale's convergent validity and discriminant validity. We determine criterion‐related validity through the scale's relationship to satisfaction with the calling domain, career‐related self‐efficacy, clarity of professional identity, career insight, attending a calling‐oriented college program, professional pursuit of the calling domain, and differences across the 4 domains. We discuss implications of this reliable, valid measure for theory and research on calling, meaning of work, and careers.

Career adaptability, calling and the professional competence of social work students in China: A career construction perspective

“…These findings enrich research on career construction theory by showing the interplay of the individual and contextual predictors in professional competence (Savickas, 2013). These findings suggest that under an adverse career development environment, students with a strong calling tend to proactively cope with these difficulties and develop their career competence, which adds new evidence on the positive role of calling in career development (e.g., Dobrow & Tosti-Kharas, 2011;Duffy & Dik, 2013). These findings also suggest that a career-oriented learning environment is especially important for students who don't have high career adaptability or strong calling in their major.…”

“…We argue that the positive effect of calling on individuals' professional competence will be more salient when individuals perceive a lower level of career-oriented learning environment. That is, when the learning environment cannot support a practice-based learning experiences and interactive dialogues for career development, only those with a strong calling will proactively overcome these difficulties and develop the professional competence of social workers (e.g., Dobrow & Tosti-Kharas, 2011;Duffy & Dik, 2013). Thus, when there exists a career-oriented learning environment, this positive contextual factor will strengthen the professional competence of most students, especially for those who have a lower level of calling.…”

“…Calling is usually defined as the consuming and meaningful passion people experience towards a profession (Bunderson, & Thompson, 2009;Dobrow & Tosti-Kharas, 2011;Hall & Chandler, 2005;Wrzesniewski, McCauley, Rozin, & Schwartz, 1997). A high level of calling reflects a strong tendency to implement one's self-concept and life meanings Career Adaptability and Calling 6 in the pursuit of target profession.…”

“…That is, the adaptive-abilities strengthen students' professional competence by promoting their calling. Calling represents a strong belief that one's life meaning is closely related to the pursuit of social work profession, therefore it motivates students to develop relevant career competence to achieve their professional goals (Dobrow & Tosti-Kharas, 2011). Our study extends previous research on calling by empirically testing its antecedents, as well as its effect on professional competence.…”

“…Participants' calling was measured by the scale developed by Dobrow and Tosti-Kharas (2011), which consists of 12 items. The Chinese version of this scale was translated by a Chinese bilingual translator.…”