Dr Angela de Jong
Dr Angela de Jong is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist (AFBPsS) and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society who has recently added the International Coaching Federation’s ACC credential to her portfolio. Her career stretches across several countries and all continents (minus the very cold one), and has taken her on interesting journeys across the globe tasked to identify talent, develop potential, increase competence and / or accelerate possibilities. She has offered her knowledge, insights, and expertise in both the private and public sectors, and she believes herself to be an ever-curious, non-stop learning worker, researcher, psychologist, coach, mother, friend and human-being. Focusing on assessment and psychometrics, she has presented several academic papers on selection techniques, candidates' perceptions of these selection techniques, as well as strategic human capital risks at international psychology conferences, with the same being published in international psychology journals and business magazines. Within the Middle East region especially, she contributed the chapter ‘Psychometrics in the UAE workforce: Are we measuring capability with a thermometer?' in the book 'Mental Health and Psychological Practice in the United Arab Emirates', published by Palgrave Macmillan. Her webinar on ‘A peek into developing assessments within the UAE in adherence to the EFPA guidelines – based on practical lessons learnt’ still runs as a paid event for the BPS on the BPS Learn platform. More recently, her focused has shifted towards the topic of employee resilience, well-being, wellness, and occupational health, while assessment and psychometrics, of course still feature strongly. In this project she aims to create a scientific validated measure for resilience, based on sound research and proven models, suitable for use within the UAE that is available in Arabic.
Practical lessons learnt in developing a Resilience assessment within the UAE in adherence to the EFPA guidelines.
The aim of this presentation is to share practical lessons learnt in the journey to validate a home-grown resilience assessment within the UAE whilst adhering to the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations (EFPA) guidelines in preparation for the British Psychological Society (BPS) review of the instrument.
The why?
The business case to this project was based on the belief that this region is ready to have its own psychometric assessments developed - psychometric assessments that are embedded in the UAE / Emirati culture, belief system, values, and language, and that are tailored to the specific indigenous population profile and their needs.
Factual evidence validating this belief lies in the ever-increasing number of actual psychometric tests used in the local economy, as well as the increasing level of awareness regarding the value and benefits of using psychometric assessments during selection, development, and other organizational processes within UAE companies.
An increase in the number of UAE Nationals who are BPS-registered test users is further evidence of the increased awareness of the worth of psychometric test use.
Additionally, it is important to note that most test publishers and distributors operating in the region have not merely translated an array of psychometric instruments but have localized these.
But one step better would be to develop psychometrics specifically for this population group.
The what?
The current trend of employers understanding the importance and need of employee resilience, well-being, and the holistic focus on employees, powerfully accentuated by the pandemic, has not gone unnoticed in this region either.
The attendees will therefore be given a glimpse into the process of developing and validating a psychometric instrument in preparation for the BPS review within the field of resilience.
The uniqueness of this project is that it is an Arabic psychometric instrument measuring resilience across four scales that was developed by and for UAE Nationals specifically - not an instrument that was translated, or localized; but rather, was home-grown within the UAE in a very large employer of Emiratis.
The resilience assessment comprised four main psychological constructs embedded in resilience theory and models, namely self-actualization, locus of control, emotional intelligence, and sense of coherence.
Additionally, these four main constructs were each sub-categorized into: physical, cognitive, affective, motivational, and interpersonal characteristics.
The how?
The participants will be taken through the journey starting of the research process that started with a comprehensive literature study, understanding the EFPA and BPS guidelines and requirements; assessment design - designing good items, including social desirability scales; drafting a realistic and achievable research design; finalizing the statistical plan; peer review of the assessment and the research process and all related details by subject matter experts and partners; pilot testing in the target population; data collection; statistical analyses (validity, reliability, bias) to documenting and, finally, BPS review submission.
