Preliminary evaluation of backup planning propensity scale
LIN Yajuan1,2, YANG Haibo1,2
1. School of Education and Psychology, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 363000, Fujian Province, China; 2. Fujian Key Laboratory of Applied Cognition and Personality, Zhangzhou 363000, Fujian Province, China
Abstract：Objective To develop a backup planning propensity scale, and explore the characteristics of backup planning behavior among university students. Methods In the qualitative research, grounded theory and text analysis method were used to conduct three-level coding on 236 open-ended questionnaire responses to explore the structural characteristics of backup planning. The backup planning propensity scale was established by using quantitative analysis, and the reliability and validity of the scale were tested on 594 university students. Results In the qualitative research, backup planning included four dimensions: influencing, making plan, reserving plan, and replacing plan. During the making plan stage, university students generally paid more attention to the benefits of backup planning and less considered the adverse effects of using backup planning on target performance. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the newly constructed scale consisted of four factor structures: making plan, adverse effects, favorable influence, and replacing behavior. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fit well, with Cronbach’s α coefficients of 0.757, 0.832, 0.771 and 0.583, respectively. The scores of each factor in the backup planning propensity scale were significantly positively correlated with the total score of the backup planning scale and the score of the general self-efficacy scale. Conclusion The backup planning propensity scale in this study has good reliability and validity, which can provide reference for research in the field of task management.
