Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the existing conceptualizations of counseling ethics competency and to develop a counseling ethics competency scale. This paper also argues that spirituality and self-efficacy influence counseling ethics competency.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of studies were performed to develop hypotheses and a conceptual framework to determine the relationships among spirituality, self-efficacy and counseling ethics competency. To measure registered counselors’ counseling ethics competency, a document analysis of the Counselors Code of Ethics was conducted and pretested on the basis of a pilot test prior to the empirical development of the scale.

Findings

A conceptual framework was developed to operationalize the theory and to present the influence of spirituality and self-efficacy on counseling ethics competency. The counseling ethics competency scale was found reliable and valid to measure the registered counselors’ competency in the eight components of the Counselors Code of Ethics.

Practical implications

The scale and framework can be used as tools to identify competencies where registered counselors are lacking and to pinpoint skills on which counselors need to improve. This research also will provide insights for counselor educators to be innovative in teaching and learning ethics within the scope of counselor education training programs.

Originality/value

There is no specific scale available to measure counseling ethics competency among registered counselors in Malaysia. Thus, this research unveils the importance of measuring counseling ethics competency in molding effective and ethical Malaysian counselors, and subsequently pinpointing factors that can improve counseling ethics competency.

Recommendations

We recommend to assess the scale using EFA, followed by CFA to determine and confirm the factor structure of the scale items. In terms of the field, future scope may not just focus on the traits, characters and skills building but also place more emphasis on ethics comprehension toward best practices of ethics application and internalization on becoming self-sufficient counselors.

中文翻译：

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咨询伦理能力的概念化和初步测量：灵性和自我效能的影响

目的

本文旨在为现有的咨询道德能力概念化做出贡献，并制定咨询道德能力量表。本文还认为，灵性和自我效能影响咨询道德能力。

设计/方法/方法

进行了一系列研究以发展假设和概念框架，以确定灵性、自我效能和咨询道德能力之间的关系。为了衡量注册咨询师的咨询道德能力，在量表的实证开发之前，在试点测试的基础上，对咨询师道德规范进行了文件分析和预测试。

发现

开发了一个概念框架来实施该理论并展示灵性和自我效能对咨询道德能力的影响。咨询道德能力量表被认为是可靠和有效的，以衡量注册咨询师在咨询师道德守则的八个组成部分中的能力。

实际影响

该量表和框架可用作识别注册辅导员缺乏能力的工具，并确定辅导员需要改进的技能。这项研究还将为辅导员教育者在辅导员教育培训计划范围内创新教学和学习伦理提供见解。

原创性/价值

没有具体的量表来衡量马来西亚注册咨询师的咨询道德能力。因此，这项研究揭示了衡量咨询道德能力对于塑造有效和道德的马来西亚咨询师的重要性，并随后查明可以提高咨询道德能力的因素。

建议

我们建议使用 EFA 评估量表，然后使用 CFA 来确定和确认量表项目的因子结构。就该领域而言，未来的范围可能不仅仅集中在特质、性格和技能的培养上，而是更加强调伦理理解，以实现伦理应用的最佳实践，并内化成为自给自足的咨询师。