Overview

Purpose: Designed to assess the qualities of work that individuals consider important to them.

For: Individuals with year 8 education upwards.

Length: Untimed (usually 10 to 20 minutes).

Format: Pen and paper.

Materials: Question booklet, individual profile sheet, manual.

What people seek from work can be a powerful motivator but people are often not aware of their work aspect preferences. What people consider worthwhile and rewarding in work is generally agreed, by both theorists and practitioners, to be quite influential in individuals' personal and career development.

The items in the WAPS are grouped into 13 scales: Altruism, Co-workers, Creativity, Detachment, Independence, Life Style, Management, Money, Physical Activities, Prestige, Security, Self-Development and Surroundings. This edition of the WAPS enables the measurement of General Work Preference dimensions - Non Work Orientation, Human/Personal Concern and Freedom.

The new version of the WAPS presents the scale in an easier to score format. Other changes include improved norms, assessment of second order factors, updated validity and reliability results, some item wording improvements and so on. The WAPS is useful in:

- counselling students about appropriate career choices
- the rehabilitation to work of disabled individuals
- providing a general introduction to the study of personal and work values, for example, in a career - education program
- research on career development and worker satisfaction
- life and career integration planning