Job Content Questionnaire (Karasek JCQ)
HR & WorkReliability: alphas 0.65–0.80 across subscales3 sample items
About this scale
A 49-item measure of job demands and control built on the Karasek Demand-Control model. Subscales include psychological demands, decision latitude (skill discretion + decision authority), social support, and job insecurity.
Sample item(s)
“My job requires working very fast. (demands)”
“My job allows me to make a lot of decisions on my own. (decision authority)”
“I have a lot to say about what happens on my job. (decision authority)”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alphas 0.65–0.80 across subscales. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Foundational stress-research instrument; pair with effort-reward imbalance (Siegrist) for complementary models.
Source & citation
Karasek, R., Brisson, C., Kawakami, N., Houtman, I., Bongers, P., & Amick, B. (1998): The Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ): An instrument for internationally comparative assessments of psychosocial job characteristics. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 322–355.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
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