Investigating Workplace Bullying in India: Psychometric Properties, Validity, and Cutoff Scores of Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised

Abstract

Workplace bullying is a universal threat with statistics available at global level prominently suggesting that this phenomenon is thriving like a pandemic worldwide. Limited literature on workplace bullying from Indian perspective can be attributed to the paucity of standardized tools for investigating its prevalence. This study reports validation, psychometric properties, and cutoff scores for Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised (NAQ-R) in Indian sample (N = 1,053). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed a best fit three-factor model of work-related bullying, person-related bullying, and physically intimidating bullying NAQ-R demonstrated high reliability and validity using CFA and Pearson’s correlation with measures of burnout, work engagement, and perceived victimization. Two cutoff points for NAQ-R were formulated using receiver operating characteristic curve for categorizing respondents as “never bullied” (scores below 40), “occasionally bullied” (scores between 40 and 56), and “severely bullied” (scores above 56). Based on these scores, 46% of the employees were found being bullied at work, either occasionally or frequently. NAQ-R is a valid and psychometrically sound measure to examine workplace bullying in India. Clear cutoff scores may help practitioners in designing prevention and intervention strategies. As NAQ-R is the most extensively tried and tested measure of workplace bullying worldwide, the findings of the study may facilitate cross-cultural comparisons.