Decent work in Turkey: Context, conceptualization, and assessment

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to provide explore decent work in the Turkish cultural context. To achieve this, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were undertaken. Specifically, we sought to validate a Turkish version of the Decent Work Scale (Duffy et al., 2017) among a diverse group of Turkish working adults (N = 453). Additionally, we used an open-ended question to gather qualitative data in order to gain a deeper understanding of how decent work is conceptualized in the current Turkish cultural context (N = 100). Findings of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a correlational five-factor model of the DWS exhibited good model fit for the Turkish working adults. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance models were tested, indicating that the structure of the scale was invariant across gender, income, and social class groups. The total DWS scale score and five subscale scores positively correlated with job satisfaction and work meaning, and negatively correlated with withdrawal intentions. In addition, content analysis supported presence of the five subscales of the DWS. Thus, the results of this study provide preliminary evidence that the Turkish version of the DWS may be utilized for assessing decent work among Turkish working adults.