Understanding career goal discrepancies is vital for fostering adaptive career development. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Positive Career Goal Discrepancy Scale and tested its measurement invariance across gender among Iranian university students (N = 363). Confirmatory factor analysis supported both three first-order and second-order factor structures. Convergent validity was confirmed via positive correlations with employability and proactive personality, while divergent validity was demonstrated through a negative correlation with the Negative Career Goal Discrepancy Scale. The scale exhibited high internal consistency (α = 0.91) and composite reliability (CR > 0.80), with acceptable average variance extracted (AVE ≥ 0.52). Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis confirmed gender invariance. The Persian Positive Career Goal Discrepancy Scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing career progress perceptions in Iranian contexts, supporting its use in research and practice.
AkmalS. Z.CreedP. A.HoodM.DuffyA. (2021). The positive career goal discrepancy scale: Development and initial validation. Journal of Career Assessment, 29(2), 338–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072720976376
2.
BaharlouM.MahmoodikiaM.AhmadiC. S. (2013). Investigate relationship between proactive personality with job performance by mediating job crafting and job engagement in employees of airline agencies in Tehran. New Findings in Psychology, 8(28), 53–68.
BargstedM.YevesJ.MerinoC.Venegas-MuggliJ. I. (2021). Career success is not always an outcome: Its mediating role between competence employability model and perceived employability. Career Development International, 26(2), 119–139. https://doi.org/10.1108/cdi-06-2020-0141
5.
BornaE.AfrasiabiH.Kalateh SadatiA.GiffordW. (2022). Women’s perspectives on career successes and barriers: A qualitative meta-synthesis. Social Science Information, 61(2–3), 318–344. https://doi.org/10.1177/05390184221113735
6.
BrownS. D.LentR. W. (2012). Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work. John Wiley & Sons.
7.
BühlerJ. L.WeidmannR.NikitinJ.GrobA. (2019). A closer Look at life goals across adulthood: Applying A developmental perspective to content, dynamics, and outcomes of goal importance and goal attainability. European Journal of Personality, 33(3), 359–384. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2194
8.
CampbellD. J. (2000). The proactive employee: Managing workplace initiative. Academy of Management Perspectives, 14(3), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2000.4468066
9.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F. (1982). Control theory: A useful conceptual framework for personality–social, clinical, and health psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 92(1), 111–135. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.92.1.111
10.
CheungG. W.RensvoldR. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 9(2), 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5
11.
CreedP. A.HoodM. (2015). The development and initial validation of a scale to assess career goal discrepancies. Journal of Career Assessment, 23(2), 308–317. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072714535175
12.
CreedP. A.HoodM.HuS. (2017). Personal orientation as an antecedent to career stress and employability confidence: The intervening roles of career goal-performance discrepancy and career goal importance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 99, 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.12.007
13.
Dacre PoolL.QualterP.SewellJ., & P. (2014). Exploring the factor structure of the CareerEDGE employability development profile. Education+ Training, 56(4), 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1108/et-01-2013-0009
14.
DoostaniP.SadeghiA. (2019). Predicting career goal discrepancy based on career-related stress, career goal feedback, and field of study in students. Journal of Counseling Research, 17(68), 22–43.
15.
FornellC.LarckerD. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3(4), 424–453. https://doi.org/10.1037//1082-989x.3.4.424
18.
JiangZ. (2017). Proactive personality and career adaptability: The role of thriving at work. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 98, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2016.10.003
19.
JohariJ.ShamsudinF. M.ZainunN. F. H.YeanT. F.YahyaK. K. (2022). Institutional leadership competencies and job performance: The moderating role of proactive personality. International Journal of Educational Management, 36(6), 1027–1045. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem-07-2021-0280
20.
KanaanM. H. H.AliwiA.-K. K. (2022). The proactive personality of postgraduate students. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(5), 9448–9464.
21.
KoutroubasV.GalanakisM. (2022). Bandura’s social learning theory and its importance in the organizational psychology context. Psychology (Savannah, Ga ), 12(6), 315–322. https://doi.org/10.17265/2159-5542/2022.06.001
22.
MatsuoM. (2022). The role of supervisor support for strengths use in promoting perceived employability and career satisfaction. Personnel Review, 51(5), 1587–1603. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr-01-2021-0026
23.
MoghaddasS.NilforooshanP. (2020). The relationship between boundaryless career with employability: The role of career competencies. Career and Organizational Counseling, 12(42), 121–138. https://doi.org/10.52547/jcoc.12.1.121
24.
NiaziM.FarhadianA.IraniF.KhoshbayaniF. (2023). A meta-combination study of model design and dimensions affecting life expectancy in young people. Strategic Studies on Youth and Sports, 22(60), [Unpublished]. https://doi.org/10.22034/ssys.2023.2847.3074
25.
OrçanF. (2018). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Which one to use first?Eğitimde ve Psikolojide Ölçme ve Değerlendirme Dergisi, 9(4), 414–421. https://doi.org/10.21031/epod.394323
26.
RothwellA.ArnoldJ. (2007). Self-perceived employability: Development and validation of a scale. Personnel Review, 36(1), 23–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710716704
27.
SadeghiA.DoostaniP.HuS. (2020). Confirmatory factor analysis of the career feedback inventory in an Iranian high school students sample. Iranian Evolutionary Educational Psychology Journal, 2(1), 46–56. https://doi.org/10.29252/ieepj.2.1.46
28.
Schermelleh-EngelK.MoosbruggerH.MüllerH. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research Online, 8(2), 23–74.
29.
SeibertS. E.CrantJ. M.KraimerM. L. (1999). Proactive personality and career success. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(3), 416–427. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.84.3.416
30.
ShulmanS.NurmiJ.-E. (2010). Dynamics of goal pursuit and personality make-up among emerging adults: Typology, change over time, and adaptation: Dynamics of goal pursuit and personality make-up among emerging adults. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2010(130), 57–70. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.281
31.
ZhaoM.LiJ.LinY.ZhangB.ShiY. (2022). The effect of perfectionism on test anxiety and the mediating role of sense of coherence in adolescent students. Journal of Affective Disorders, 310, 142–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.05.009
32.
ZwickW. R.VelicerW. F. (1986). Comparison of five rules for determining the number of components to retain. Psychological Bulletin, 99(3), 432–442. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.99.3.432
