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Psychometric properties of the African Career Interest Inventory in Ghana

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Abstract

This study set out to investigate the psychometric properties of the African Career Interest Inventory (ACII) in Ghana. The ACII is an interest measure developed in South Africa that operationalises Holland’s model of vocational personality/interest types. We obtained 617 responses to the ACII from university students at a university in Ghana. Most of the items showed satisfactory fit to the Rasch model with only a few items showing poor fit. The ACII scale scores showed good reliability and the randomisation test of hypothesised order relations and covariance structure modelling supported circumplex structure of these scale scores. Implications for theory and practice are provided.

Résumé

Propriétés psychométriques de l’African Career Interest Inventory au Ghana

Cette étude a examiné les propriétés psychométriques de l'African Career Interest Inventory (ACII) au Ghana. L'ACII est une mesure d'intérêt développée en Afrique du Sud pour opérationnaliser le modèle de Holland de personnalités en milieu professionnel/types d'intérêts professionnels. Nous avons obtenu 617 réponses à l'ACII de la part d'étudiants·es universitaires au Ghana. La plupart des items ont montré une adéquation satisfaisante au modèle de Rasch, seuls quelques items ont montré une mauvaise adéquation. Les scores de l'échelle ACII ont montré une bonne fiabilité et le test de randomisation d’hypothétiques relations d'ordre et l’analyse de covariance ont soutenu la structure circomplexe de ces scores d'échelle. Des implications pour la théorie et la pratique sont apportées.

Zusammenfassung

Psychometrische Eigenschaften des African Career Interest Inventory in Ghana

Diese Studie untersuchte die psychometrischen Eigenschaften des African Career Interest Inventory (ACII) in Ghana. Das ACII ist ein Interessenmaß, das in Südafrika entwickelt wurde, um Hollands Modell der beruflichen Persönlichkeits-/Interessentypen zu operationalisieren. Wir erhielten 617 Antworten auf das ACII von Universitätsstudenten in Ghana. Die meisten der Items zeigten eine zufriedenstellende Anpassung an das Rasch-Modell, nur einige wenige Items zeigten eine schlechte Anpassung. Die ACII-Skalenwerte zeigten eine gute Reliabilität und der Randomisierungstest der hypothetischen Ordnungsbeziehungen sowie die Kovarianzstrukturmodellierung unterstützten die Zirkumplexstruktur dieser Skalenwerte. Es werden Implikationen für Theorie und Praxis gegeben.

Resumen

Propiedades psicométricas del Inventario de intereses profesionales africanos en Ghana

Este estudio investigó las propiedades psicométricas del Inventario de intereses profesionales africanos (ACII) en Ghana. El ACII es una medida de intereses desarrollada en Sudáfrica para poner en práctica el modelo de Holland de personalidad vocacional / tipos de intereses. Obtuvimos 617 respuestas al ACII de estudiantes universitarios en Ghana. La mayoría de los items mostraron un ajuste satisfactorio al modelo de Rasch y solo algunos items mostraron un ajuste deficiente. Las puntuaciones de la escala ACII mostraron una buena fiabilidad y la prueba de aleatorización de las relaciones hipotéticas de orden y el modelado en la estructura de la covarianza apoyaron la estructura circumplex de estas puntuaciones de la escala. Se aportan implicaciones para la teoría y la práctica.

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Notes

  1. We use the terms personality and interest interchangeably when referring to the RIASEC personality types. We also use the term types as synonymous with domain/factors (e.g., Wiernik, 2016).

  2. However, see Wiernik’s (2016) arguments against the use of the RTHOR.

  3. Strictly speaking the Rasch model is not the same as other IRT models although for the purpose of this article we discuss it within the broader IRT paradigm.

  4. For the communality coefficients we also included the first factor as this is similar to how it is calculated in Browne’s (1992) approach.

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Acknowledgements

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article. The views expressed in this article are their own and do not reflect the official position of their institutions. Data and Winsteps/R/MPlus code used in this study can be obtained from the first author. We thank B. M. Wiernik for his advice on analysing circumplex models and three anonymous reviewers for the comments on earlier drafts of the article. Funding for the project that the article is based on was obtained from The Rupert Education Foundation and Stellenbosch University’s Social Impact Faculty Grant. Additional results are available in the Online Supplement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Brandon Morgan

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Enoch Teye-Kwadjo & Maxwell Asumeng

  3. Department of Global Health and HIV Mental Health Research Unit and Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health , Stellenbosch University and University of Cape Town , Cape Town, South Africa

    Stephan Rabie

  4. Department of Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Anthony V. Naidoo

  5. Department of Industrial Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Gideon P. de Bruin

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Correspondence to Brandon Morgan.

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Morgan, B., Teye-Kwadjo, E., Asumeng, M. et al. Psychometric properties of the African Career Interest Inventory in Ghana. Int J Educ Vocat Guidance 23, 219–248 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-021-09499-8

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