WIS/SVP
Scale of Professional Values
G. Trentini*, M. Bellotto** and M.C. Bolla**
*University “Ca’ Foscari” of Venezia, **University of Padua
General overview
Professional values, together with involvement and satisfaction, are the essential components of a complex construct known as “work importance”, which declines through the changes in the life cycle and different social interactions of each person. Thus defined, these values correspond to a system of needs, desires and goals, hierarchically structured according to priority and relative importance. The values constitute a set of criteria to guide behaviour, orienting and facilitating decision-making and the integration of various activities. Since the values are considered as hypothetical constructs useful for the analysis of behaviour, it stands to reason that they cannot be directly measured, but can be recognized by observing which goals people consider to be important and pursue throughout their lives.
An understanding and analysis of existing expectations in work (and in life), the meaning that is attributed to them, the values underlying behaviour, the existential objectives and the type of career envisioned by each human being are extremely important. All these factors are involved the assessment of adults and adolescents, individual counselling, empowerment, career assessment, orientation and selection.
The scale
The WIS/SVP is a test that measures intrinsic and extrinsic work values, which are generally not considered in other measurement scales. The scale can be used with secondary school students who are close to graduation, university students, and adults employed in various sectors of work or, at any rate, of working age.
The scale represents the Italian version of the Work Importance Study of D. Super, an international research project involving 11 countries aiming to identify “what” people seek in a profession or in life, and to assess the importance of the professional role in the context of other life roles (free time, family, study, social groups).
Structure
The WIS/SVP consists of 63 items and requires about 30 minutes administration time.
There are 21 values measured:
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Utilization of Abilities (ABIL)
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Achievement of Results (ACH)
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Advancement (ADVA)
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Aesthetics (AEST)
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Altruism (ALTR)
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Authority (AUTH)
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Autonomy (AUTO)
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Creativity (CREA)
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Economic Gains (ECON)
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Life Style (LIFE)
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Personal Development (PERS)
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Physical Activity (PHYA)
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Prestige (PRES)
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Risk (RISK)
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Social Interaction (SOCI)
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Social Relations (SOCR)
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Variety (VARI)
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Work Conditions (WORK)
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Cultural Identity (CULT)
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Physical Capacity (PHIP)
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Economic Security (SECU)
On the basis of scores obtained by subjects, the scale also measures 5 fundamental orientations (materialistic, towards self, towards others, towards independence, towards a challenge), as well as the typology which the subject most closely matches among 6 different types (creative, tranquil, go-getting, hard, autonomous, social).
Internet administration, scoring and reporting available
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