French Translation and Validation of the Job Search Self-Efficacy Scale
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Job Search Self-Efficacy (JSSE), the belief that one can perform job search behavior and obtain employment, is a central determinant of the job search process. However, there is no validated French measure of JSSE. We translated and validated the JSSE scale (Saks et al., 2015) in French using a forward-backward translation procedure and addressed four limitations of previous studies. First, a large sample of 2,055 unemployed people answered the survey rather than small or student samples. Second, we used administrative records to measure objective job search behavior and access to employment instead of self-reports. Third, we used a longitudinal design at respectively 90- and 150-days instead of a cross-sectional design. Finally, we randomly withheld the survey from half of the sample to rule out a measurement effect. A confirmatory factor analysis supported the expected two-factor structure, which showed strict invariance across age, gender, education, and length of registration as well as scalar invariance after one month. Both subscales were reliable and stable over one month and correlated with self-esteem, autonomous motivation, and amotivation to (re)work in the expected direction and strength. When both subscales were entered jointly, JSSE behavior predicted the number of sent applications within 90 days, while JSSE outcome predicted access to temporary agency work within 150 days. This pattern is consistent with self-efficacy operating as a proximal correlate of job search behavior but a distal correlate of employment. The French JSSE is a reliable and structurally sound measure.
Source: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Authors: Charlotte Rauscher, Charly Marie
Language: English
Subfield: Applied Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225333143