Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

Abstract

The Perceived Organizational Support Short Scale (POS-s) is an economical, eight-item psychometric instrument designed to measure employees’ global beliefs concerning the extent to which their organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. Developed based on Organizational Support Theory (Eisenberger et al., 1986), the POS-s is a validated, one-dimensional scale known for its high psychometric quality and brief administration time.

The scale possesses robust internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha = .91; McDonald’s Omega = .91) and strong structural validity confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, substantial correlations with related constructs—including Self-Efficacy (convergent validity) and Resistance to Change (criterion validity)—support its utility in organizational psychology and human resource management contexts.

Keywords

Perceived Organizational Support, POS-s, Organizational Support Theory, Reciprocity Norm, Employee Well-being, Organizational Commitment, Workplace Assessment, Psychometrics.

Authors

Dr. Josef A. Fischer, Dr. Hendrik Hüttermann (Developers of the German Short Scale validation); Robert Eisenberger, Steven Hutchison, Samuel Sowa, and Peter Fasolo (Developers of the Original Scale).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the POS-s is the highly economical operationalization of the organizational psychological construct of Perceived Organizational Support (POS). The scale is specifically designed to quantify the degree to which individuals feel supported and valued by their employing organization. This short form provides a time-efficient alternative to the original 36-item scale, making it highly feasible for large-scale organizational surveys.

The instrument is applicable across various professional environments, including corporations, governmental institutions, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). It is used in organizational development initiatives, such as preparing for major change processes (e.g., restructuring), evaluating existing organizational changes, or assessing issues related to employee retention and commitment. Its brevity also makes it suitable for initial diagnostic screenings in business coaching settings.

Construct

The POS-s measures Perceived Organizational Support (POS), which describes the generalized belief held by employees that the organization values their contributions and genuinely cares about their well-being (Eisenberger et al., 1986). This construct is predicated on the Organizational Support Theory, which proposes that individuals personify their organization and seek explanations for advantageous or disadvantageous treatment based on the organization’s perceived intent.

The theory identifies two critical psychological mechanisms: first, high POS fulfills socio-emotional needs, such as affirming self-esteem, which fosters greater identification with the organization. Second, consistent with the Reciprocity Norm, employees who feel strongly supported develop a perceived obligation to repay the organization through substantive means, such as increased voluntary work engagement, offering improvement suggestions, and demonstrating proactive skill acquisition (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). The POS-s items are formulated using a collective evaluation reference (reference-shift-consensus models) to capture the perception of the organization as a whole, rather than specific supervisors or colleagues.

Validity

The validity of the POS-s has been established through structural, convergent, and criterion validation procedures, indicating that it accurately measures the intended construct.

• Factorial Validity: Both Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis confirmed the scale’s unidimensionality. The CFA results showed an excellent model fit (CFI = .98, RMSEA = .058, SRMR = .027), with standardized factor loadings ranging from .68 to .84.
• Convergent Validity: Convergent validity was supported by a statistically significant positive correlation between POS-s scores and general Self-Efficacy (r = .15, p < .05). This correlation supports the hypothesis that supported employees feel they possess adequate resources to cope with workplace challenges.
• Criterion Validity: Criterion validity was demonstrated by a significant negative correlation with the construct Resistance to Change (r = -.18, p < .01). As predicted by the theory of organizational support and the Reciprocity Norm, highly supported employees exhibit less resistance to organizational changes.
• Face Validity: The scale is considered to have high face validity, as all eight items are content-wise plausible and easily comprehensible to respondents.

Reliability

The POS-s demonstrates very good to excellent internal consistency, confirming its high reliability despite its short length. The reliability indices calculated are:

• Cronbach’s Alpha (α) = .91
• McDonald’s Omega (ω) = .91

These coefficients indicate that the items consistently measure the same underlying dimension. Furthermore, the item analysis revealed strong discriminatory power, with part-whole corrected item-total correlations ranging from .66 to .79, all far exceeding the recommended minimum threshold of .50.

Factor Analysis

The factor structure was examined using a sample of 274 managers. An Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), employing Principal Axis Factoring with Promax rotation, extracted a single factor with an eigenvalue greater than 1, accounting for 62.3% of the total variance. This result strongly supported the scale’s unidimensional nature.

Subsequently, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to test the theoretical one-factor structure. Using the Maximum Likelihood method, the model fit indices (CFI = .98, RMSEA = .058, SRMR = .027) met the criteria for an excellent fit, definitively supporting the use of the POS-s as a measure of a single, coherent construct.

Instrument

Test Type: Psychometric Self-Report Scale (Short Form).

Format: Eight items rated on a 7-point Likert scale.

Language Available: German (Items and Documentation in German; based on an English original).

Population Group: Employees, particularly suitable for managerial and professional staff (validated on a sample of Top, Upper, and Middle Management).

Age Group: Adults (validated on individuals aged 31 to 75).

Population Details: The validation sample (N = 274) consisted of managers recruited from various organizations in Luxembourg between 2015 and 2016. The sample was predominantly male (85.77%) and highly educated (60.95% held Master’s degrees).

Test Methodology: Computer Self-Administered Questionnaire (CSAQ) or Paper-and-Pencil Interviewing (PAPI).

Processing Time: Highly economical, estimated at 3 minutes (CSAQ) to 4 minutes (PAPI).

Scoring Notes: The scale is scored by calculating an unweighted mean index of all eight items. Items 1 and 5 are negatively worded and must be reverse-coded (1=7, 2=6, etc.) before aggregation to ensure that a higher resulting mean score indicates higher perceived organizational support.

Keywords

Organizational Development, Employee Retention, Change Management, Job Satisfaction, Self-Efficacy, Resistance to Change, Management Assessment, Organizational Psychology.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Dr. Josef A. Fischer: [email protected]; Dr. Hendrik Hüttermann: [email protected].

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale is a validated short form of the original 1986 instrument. The validation study for the German POS-s short form was conducted using data collected between 2015 and 2016. Information regarding specific licensing fees or formal permissions for commercial use must be obtained directly from the authors listed in the contact section.

Reference’s

The POS-s is based on the original work by Eisenberger and colleagues, and its validation relies on the following key references:

• Bortz, J., & Döring, N. (2006). Forschungsmethoden und Evaluation für Human- und Sozialwissenschaftler. Springer.
• Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216.
• Chan, D. (1998). The conceptualization and analysis of multilevel constructs in organizational science. In F. J. Yammarino & F. Dansereau (Eds.), Research in multi-level issues (pp. 1–32). JAI Press.
• Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500–507.
• Eisenberger, R., Fasolo, P., & Davis-LaMastro, V. (1990). Perceived organizational support and employee diligence, commitment, and innovation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75(1), 51–59.
• Kurtessis, J. N., Eisenberger, R., Ford, M. T., Buffardi, L. C., Stewart, K. A., & Adis, C. S. (2015). Perceived organizational support: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(6), 1839–1861.
• Oreg, S. (2003). Resistance to change: Developing a new scale and testing its antecedents and consequences in two samples. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 680–692.
• Rhoades, L., & Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698–714.
• Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of Psychological Research Online, 8(2), 23–74.
• Schwarzer, R., & Jerusalem, M. (1999). General self-efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston (Eds.), Measures in health psychology: A user’s portfolio. NFER-NELSON.
• Self, D. R., Self, T. L., & Thomas, G. H. (2007). The development of an abbreviated version of the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 11(2), 53–64.
• Williams, L. J., Vandenberg, R. J., & Edwards, J. R. (2009). 12 The need for latent variable interaction modeling in organizational research. In C. E. Lance & R. J. Vandenberg (Eds.), Statistical and methodological myths and urban legends (pp. 235-266). Routledge.

Items of the Perceived Organizational Support (POS-s)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Instruction: Bitte geben Sie bei jeder Aussage an, inwieweit diese auf Sie persönlich zutrifft. Beziehen Sie sich dabei bitte auf die Organisation, für die Sie momentan tätig sind.

Tabelle 1

Items der Skala POS-s

Response Scale (7-point Likert):

1. Stimme überhaupt nicht zu
2. Stimme nicht zu
3. Stimme eher nicht zu
4. Weder noch
5. Stimme eher zu
6. Stimme zu
7. Stimme voll und ganz zu