Development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of three context-specific workplace scales among Serbian community pharmacists
Authors:
Dragana Jocić
Background/Aim. Pharmaceutical practice requires not only technical expertise but also interpersonal, motivational, and leadership-related competencies. However, there is a lack of context-specific instruments for assessing these constructs in pharmacy practice. The aim of this study was to develop and conduct an initial psychometric evaluation of the Workplace Personality Scale (WPS), the Achievement Motivation Scale (AMS), and the Agile Leadership Scale (ALS) among Serbian community pharmacists. Methods. Items were developed through a literature review and expert input, followed by content review and pilot testing. The final instruments were administered to 633 pharmacists. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach α coefficient, while exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to examine the internal structure. Correlation analyses and group comparisons were performed using appropriate statistical tests. Results. All scales demonstrated satisfactory to high internal consistency (α = 0.855–0.947). EFA revealed a four-factor structure for the WPS and predominantly unidimensional structures for AMS and ALS. Participants reported relatively high workplace-related behavioral tendencies and achievement motivation, while perceptions of supervisory support and adaptive leadership behaviors were more moderate. Positive to strong associations were observed among the scales (r = 0.495–0.711). Differences were found according to gender, age, and professional experience, while other demographic variables showed no consistent associations. Conclusion. The study provides preliminary evidence on the internal structure and reliability of three context-specific instruments developed for Serbian community pharmacists. Further validation is required, including confirmatory factor analysis, test-retest reliability, and assessment of external validity, before broader application.