Perceived uncertainty: A study of validity and reliability

Abstract

In organizational context, uncertainty perception is associated with job insecurity and organizational change. In contemporary industrialized societies, the term change implies cost reduction, downsizing, restructuring, mergers, and acquisitions. In addition to these market-driven sources of uncertainty, governmental factors such as unsuccessful economic policies, political instabilities, and privatization can lead to a decrease in public investments and expenditures. Because of the job insecurity which is the most prominent property of new era, employees have gradually lost their control on their works and got used to work in a relatively more uncertain business life. The increase of the perceived uncertainty means the decrease in job satisfaction, commitment, and trust. Accordingly, organizational change and perceived uncertainty may have effects on the future of the organization-employee relationships. In this context, the aim of this study is to adapt the Perceived Uncertainty Scale developed by Schweiger and DeNisi into Turkish. Firstly, the scale was translated into Turkish by language experts. Then, two-stage validity and reliability process was performed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted in each stage. As a result of these analyses, it was revealed that unlike the original scale, the Turkish version has two factors and consists of 15 items.