Conceptualizing and validating workplace belongingness scale

Abstract

PurposePrevious studies have treated general belongingness as an aggregated construct that encompasses all belongingness types and have ignored the importance of context specific belongingness. This omission can be attributed to the lack of any context specific instrument to measure belongingness. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a self-report measure of workplace belongingness that will uniquely capture and test individual’s sense of belongingness in organisational context.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 824 managerial executives working in several Indian MNCs operating in manufacturing and service sectors participated in the study. Data were collected through face-to-face survey and through online questionnaire.FindingsThe 12-item unidimensional scale was revalidated through confirmatory factor analysis after obtaining the results from exploratory factor analysis.Originality/valueThe current study developed and tested a unidimensional workplace belongingness scale that fully captures the essence of an individual’s belongingness in workplace setting.