The founding instrument of job-characteristics research, measuring the five core dimensions behind the Motivating Potential Score.
| Construct measured | Core job characteristics (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback) |
|---|---|
| Developed by | Hackman & Oldham (1975) |
| Original publication | Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60(2), 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076546 |
| Number of items | 15 for the five core job dimensions (3 each); the full JDS also measures psychological states, satisfactions and growth need strength (about 80 items in total) |
| Response format | 7-point scales; a descriptive section (1 = Very little to 7 = Very much) and an agreement section (1 = Very inaccurate to 7 = Very accurate), including reverse-keyed items |
Core-dimension alphas are commonly reported in the .60s–.70s — modest, as expected for 3-item subscales; the revised wording of Idaszak and Drasgow (1987) improves the factor structure.
The theoretical grounding in the Job Characteristics Model gives strong content validity, and meta-analyses support the model's motivational predictions. Factor-analytic support for the five-dimension structure is mixed in the original version, largely due to reverse-keyed items — many researchers use the revised JDS or the WDQ instead.
Employees across hundreds of jobs and organizations since the 1970s; the standard measure of the Job Characteristics Model.
United States. Translated into many languages over five decades of use.