Construct Validation of a Workplace Spirituality Scale for Secondary School Teachers

Objectives The purpose of this study is to validate a workplace spirituality scale for secondary school teachers in Korea. Methods First, preliminary questions were created by reviewing previous research and conducting FGI (Focus Group Interview) analysis. Additionally, expert evaluation of the created questions was conducted to confirm content validity. Second, for the verification of validity and reliability, data were collected from 690 secondary school teachers nationwide. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using SPSS and Mplus programs. Additionally, convergent, discriminant, criterion validity were confirmed, and Cronbach’s α coefficient was calculated. Results First, the exploratory factor analysis revealed that secondary school teachers' workplace spirituality can consist of four sub-factors: (1) pursuit of the inner world (4 items), (2) self-transcendence (4 items), (3) sense of duty (4 items), and (4) sense of community (3 items), resulting in a final set of 15 items. Second, confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit (RMSEA=.043, TLI=.998, CFI=.997). Third, the factor loadings were all statistically significant, range from 0.699 to 0.911. The average variance extracted (AVE) value was 0.69, and the composite reliability (CR) was 0.89, confirming convergent validity. Fourth, the AVE for each sub-factor was greater than the squared correlation coefficients with job satisfaction and job burnout, confirming discriminant validity. Fifth, the correlation coefficient with the existing workplace spirituality scale showed significant positive correlations (0.58 to 0.78), confirming criterion validity. Sixth, the Cronbach’s α of this scale was 0.764, indicating an appropriate level of internal consistency. Conclusions The workplace spirituality of secondary school teachers can be composed of four sub-factors: the pursuit of the inner world, self-transcendence, sense of duty, and sense of community. The scale developed based on these factors was found to consistently and validly measure the workplace spirituality of secondary school teachers.