Measuring Counterproductivity : Development and Initial Validation of a German Self-Report Questionnaire

This article describes the development and initial construct validation of a comprehensive self-report measure of workplace counterproductivity. The instrument contains subscales for different targets of counterproductivity (organizational and interpersonal deviance, Robinson and Bennett 1995) as well as for different forms of manifestation (absenteeism, substance use, aggression, and theft, respectively) An empirical study (N = 174), conducted in one manufacturing and one retail organization, confirmed the intended internal structure by means of confirmatory factor analysis. Counterproductivity may best be described as a higher-order behavioural construct loading on subdimensions carrying unique variance. In addition, an examination of outside variables showed that the best predictor of counterproductivity was self-control, followed by integrity, whereas cognitive ability was largely unrelated to the construct. The opposite pattern of correlations occurred for productive performance behaviours, indicating that counterproductivity is a unique construct within the performance domain. Differences and similarities between the present measure and a recent independent development by Bennett and Robinson (2000) are discussed, along with conclusions for future research on the topic