The modern, comprehensive work-design measure — 21 characteristics spanning task, knowledge, social and contextual features of work.
HRMJob Design & EmpowermentFree for research
At a glance
Construct measured
Work design / job characteristics (comprehensive)
Developed by
Morgeson & Humphrey (2006)
Original publication
Morgeson, F. P., & Humphrey, S. E. (2006). The Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ): Developing and validating a comprehensive measure for assessing job design and the nature of work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(6), 1321–1339. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.6.1321
Task characteristics — autonomy (work scheduling, decision-making, work methods), task variety, task significance, task identity, feedback from job
Knowledge characteristics — job complexity, information processing, problem solving, skill variety, specialization
Social characteristics — social support, interdependence (initiated and received), interaction outside the organization, feedback from others
Work context — ergonomics, physical demands, work conditions, equipment use
Reliability (commonly reported)
The original validation reported an average subscale alpha of about .87; most subscales commonly exceed .80 in later studies.
Validity evidence
Developed from a comprehensive review of the work-design literature (content validity), validated on 540 incumbents across 243 jobs with CFA support for the factor structure, convergence with O*NET job analysis data, and sensible relations with satisfaction and training requirements.
Populations & contexts
Job incumbents across the full range of occupations; usable for job analysis, work redesign, and survey research.
Origin, translations & adaptations
United States. Validated translations exist in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese and other languages.
Licensing & permission
Free for academic research (cite the source) The full item set is printed in the published article's appendix and the authors make the questionnaire available for research; contact them for commercial use.
How to cite (APA 7)
Morgeson, F. P., & Humphrey, S. E. (2006). The Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ): Developing and validating a comprehensive measure for assessing job design and the nature of work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(6), 1321–1339. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.6.1321
Short versions & notable variants
Researchers commonly administer only the subscales relevant to their model; validated short forms exist in some translations