Developing tools for assessing the risk of mobbing in an organization

Project manager: Magdalena Warszewska-Makuch M.Sc.

Project summary:

The task began with a review of earlier studies and tools for assessing the risk of mobbing. As a result, a pilot questionnaire for assessing the risk of mobbing was developed. It consisted of 38 items of 8 theoretical subscales, i.e., organization fairness, conflicts in the team, role conflict, workload, leadership, lack of job security, control over work and organizational culture. Then there were focus groups. Interviews took place in 4 sessions (26 people in total). The conclusions were the basis for a verification and improvement of the pilot version of the questionnaire for assessing the risk of mobbing. A questionnaire consisting of 50 questions in 10 theoretical subscales resulted. It was used to study 421 people representing five occupational groups (nurses, public administration officers, municipal transport drivers, teachers and industrial workers) employed in three provinces (mazowieckie, łódzkie and górnośląskie). The results confirmed psychometric correctness of the whole scale for assessing the risk of mobbing (ORM) (sten standards). However, the results of factor analysis showed that the empirical model was somewhat different from the theoretical model. The validity of the theoretical model was verified primarily by testing if the mean values of position, subscales and the whole ORM scale were different in the group of victims of mobbing and the group of nonvictims. Significant differences were identified both in the whole scale and in most of the empirical scales and the individual items on the scale. The final stage of the project consisted in developing standards for the whole group of subjects, and separately for men and women. The developed tool is primarily meant for assessing the risk at group level. However, this scale can also be used for individual workers.

Unit: Department of Ergonomics

Duration: 01.01.2008 – 30.12.2010