Development and Validation of the Vigilante Role Identity Scale (VRIS)

Abstract

We report on the development and validity assessment of a new scale that measures the extent to which a person has adopted the vigilante role identity (i.e., someone who monitors the environment for signs of deviance and administers unauthorized punishment to those who engage in deviance). Four studies provide evidence for the construct validity of the vigilante role identity scale (VRIS). Study 1 presents an initial assessment of the factor structure and internal consistency of the VRIS. Studies 2 and 3 cross-validate the factor structure in new samples and show evidence of its discriminant validity with respect to measures of vigilante behavior, social vigilantism, and moral identity. Study 4 tests antecedents of VRIS scores based on DeCelles and Aquino’s (2019) workplace vigilante theory. We discuss theoretical and practical contributions that the scale offers to the study of workplace vigilantes. We discuss how it can advance scholars’ understanding of workplace vigilantism more broadly, which remains a poorly understood workplace phenomenon.