Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Subjective Liminality: Individual Differences in the Perception of in-betweenness

Publication Date

12-5-2023

Description

Purpose

Modern careers are marked by periods of feeling betwixt, or “in-between,” – yet, there is no validated measure of this experience, recognized as subjective liminality. The present research aims to (1) operationalize subjective liminality and (2) develop and validate a scale to measure it.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review was used to operationalize subjective liminality, and the scale validation was performed using four separate samples: 150 workers on M-Turk, 151 graduate and professional students at a large Midwestern University, 252 unemployed individuals in the US and Canada, and 416 full-time employed individuals in the US.

Findings

Subjective liminality was conceptualized as a second-order latent construct reflected by three dimensions: feelings of anxiety, ambiguity and reduced group identification. A 9-item scale was developed and validated to measure it.

Originality/value

This study clarifies and measures an emergent construct in the career transition and organizational change literature.

Journal

Journal of Organizational Change Management

Volume

36

Issue

8

First Page

129

Last Page

140

Department

College of Management

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-07-2023-0279

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