Development and validation of the Red Crescent Personnel psychological empowerment scale (R-PES)

This study was undertaken to develop and validate an instrument for assessing psychological empowerment among employees.

Design/ methodology/ approach:

 Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study was structured into two phases: qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative phase utilized the phenomenological method, analyzing data from semi-structured interviews with 26 experts, including university professors and Red Crescent personnel such as deputies and volunteers. The subsequent quantitative phase adopted a correlational research design with structural equation modeling (SEM), analyzing data from 350 participants. This phase focused on employees of the Red Crescent Society in Tehran province. Instruments used included the Spitzer Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire (1999) and a questionnaire developed for this research.

Analysis revealed that the 29-item questionnaire possesses a robust factor structure, accurately explaining at least 68% of the variance in employees' psychological empowerment across seven sub-scales: trust, self-determination, sense of meaning, competence, effectiveness, self-confidence, and innovation.

Limitations & Consequences: 

This study exclusively focused on psychological empowerment, not accounting for its broad impact on various dimensions of individual and collective life.

Practical Consequences: 

The research confirms that the 29-item questionnaire for assessing psychological empowerment (R-PES) demonstrates sound face, content, convergent, and structural validity, making it a reliable tool for measuring employees' psychological empowerment. It is advisable for researchers, industrial psychologists, and career counselors to employ this questionnaire for assessing psychological empowerment among employees. Its validated factor structure and its proficiency in capturing significant variance in psychological empowerment render it a valuable instrument in workplace assessments.

Innovation or value of the Article:

 This questionnaire represents the first indigenous Iranian instrument designed to measure psychological empowerment.