Luxembourg Workplace Mobbing Scale (LWMS)

Abstract

The Luxembourg Workplace Mobbing Scale (LWMS) is a concise, five-item, unidimensional instrument designed to measure exposure to workplace mobbing within the general working population. Developed for large-scale application, the LWMS was validated in three primary language versions: German, French, and Luxembourgish. Validation studies (Steffgen et al., 2019; Sischka et al., 2020), utilizing representative samples of Luxembourgish employees via computer-assisted telephone interviews, confirmed its high reliability, robust factor structure, construct, and criterion validity. Due to its brevity (1–2 minutes processing time) and demonstrated partial scalar invariance across diverse demographic factors (language, age, gender, and occupational groups), the LWMS is particularly effective for efficient and comparative research in occupational psychology and large-scale demographic surveys.

Keywords

Workplace aggression, working conditions, mobbing, psychological scale, psychometrics, Luxembourg, large-scale surveys, psychological stress, bullying

Authors

Prof. Dr. Georges Steffgen, Dr. Philipp E. Sischka, Dr. Alexander F. Schmidt

Purpose

The primary purpose of the LWMS is to provide a swift and reliable assessment of exposure to negative and hostile behaviors characteristic of workplace mobbing among the general working population. Developed in the context of the Quality of Work study in Luxembourg, the scale is optimized for use in large-scale epidemiological and national surveys, minimizing respondent burden while maintaining robust psychometric quality.

The scale is designed to identify the prevalence rates of mobbing exposure across different demographic and occupational groups, serving as a critical tool for occupational health research. The behavioral phrasing of the items avoids requiring respondents to self-label as “mobbing victims,” thereby potentially reducing social desirability bias common to sensitive topics.

Construct

The core construct measured by the LWMS is Workplace Mobbing Exposure. This concept refers to an employee being subjected to a series of negative, hostile, annoying, and/or oppressive acts perpetrated by colleagues or superiors. The definition employed includes workplace abuse ranging from individual-to-individual conflicts to group-to-individual harassment.

The theoretical foundation draws upon the definition that prolonged negative social behavior—including personal attacks, social ostracism, hostile communication, and the belittling of accomplishments—threatens fundamental psychological needs, leading to isolation, oppression, incompetence, and self-doubt. The LWMS items are derived from Leymann’s Inventory of Psychological Terror (LIPT), focusing on behaviors such as criticism/devaluation, isolation (being ignored), assigning absurd duties, and ridiculing, alongside an item assessing general conflicts.

Validity

The LWMS demonstrates strong evidence for content, construct, and criterion validity. Content validity is supported by the derivation of the five items from established, detrimental mobbing categories defined by Leymann (1996b), covering both work-related and person-related negative behaviors.

Construct validity was confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), which consistently supported a single, unidimensional factor structure across multiple language versions and samples. Criterion validity was established by examining the scale’s association with a comprehensive nomological network of related constructs. The LWMS showed meaningful correlations with negative outcomes, including psychological stress (r = .49), work-related burnout (r = .50), lower work satisfaction (r = -.53), increased turnover intentions (r = .21), and reduced general well-being (r = -.33). Furthermore, the scale exhibited a very strong link with self-labeled mobbing victim status (AUC = .87).

Crucially, measurement invariance testing confirmed factor-form and metric invariance across the German, French, and Luxembourgish versions, as well as across gender and occupational groups. A model confirming partial scalar invariance was successfully established across language and age groups, supporting the validity of comparing latent means across these diverse populations.

Reliability

The reliability of the LWMS was assessed using internal consistency measures: Cronbach’s Alpha and McDonald’s Omega. The estimates are deemed sufficient for research applications, ranging between .71 and .76 for the different language versions.

For the total validation sample, Cronbach’s Alpha ranged from .72 to .73, and McDonald’s Omega was consistently .73. Reliability estimates for the individual validated language versions were: Luxembourgish (Alpha = .76, Omega = .77), German (Alpha = .73, Omega = .73), and French (Alpha = .71, Omega = .71). Reliability estimates remained acceptable across various demographic subgroups, demonstrating the scale’s stability across different populations.

Factor Analysis

The factor structure of the LWMS was rigorously tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) applied to large, representative samples of the working population in Luxembourg. The primary analysis confirmed a unidimensional congeneric measurement model, indicating that all five items load onto a single latent factor representing workplace mobbing exposure.

Fit indices consistently supported the single-factor structure across all validated language versions (German, French, Luxembourgish). Measurement invariance testing confirmed that the scale achieves metric invariance across language, gender, age, and occupation groups. While full scalar invariance was initially rejected in some comparisons (language versions and age groups), the researchers successfully established a partial scalar invariance model by freeing the intercepts of key non-invariant items. This partial invariance confirms that the scale can be used to compare mean scores of mobbing exposure across these different groups.

Instrument

Test Type: Standardized, validated, self-report psychological screening scale.

Format: 5-item questionnaire utilizing a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Never, 2 = Rarely, 3 = Sometimes, 4 = Often, 5 = Almost always). Scoring involves calculating the unweighted mean of the five items, with higher scores reflecting greater exposure to workplace mobbing.

Language Available: Validated in German, French, and Luxembourgish. English and Portuguese versions are documented but currently lack empirical validation due to low usage rates in the study samples.

Population Group: General working population.

Age Group: Adults (validated samples ranged from 16/17 to 66 years).

Population Details: Employees working in Luxembourg (including Luxembourg residents and cross-border commuters from France, Belgium, and Germany), working at least 10 hours per week.

Test Methodology: Data collection utilized Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) in representative surveys. The scale is suitable for various survey modes. Missing data can be handled using methods such as Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) or multiple imputation.

Keywords

Workplace aggression, working conditions, mobbing, psychological scale, psychometrics, Luxembourg, large-scale surveys, psychological stress, bullying

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source documentation.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Dr. Philipp E. Sischka, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Institute for Health and Behaviour, University of Luxembourg, Maison des Sciences Humaines 11, Porte des Sciences, L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 2019 (Primary validation publication).

Permissions and Licensing: The scale was developed as part of a research project supported by a grant from the Luxembourg Chamber of Labor. For usage and licensing inquiries, researchers should contact the corresponding authors, specifically Dr. Philipp E. Sischka.

Processing Time: The LWMS is highly economical, requiring approximately 1 to 2 minutes for completion, making it suitable for inclusion in lengthy surveys.

Reference’s

• Steffgen, G., Sischka, P., Schmidt, A. F., Kohl, D., & Happ, C. (2019). The Luxembourg Workplace Mobbing Scale. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 35(2), 164–171. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000381
• Sischka, P. E., Schmidt, A. F., & Steffgen, G. (2020). Further Evidence for Criterion Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Luxembourg Workplace Mobbing Scale. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 36(1), 32–43. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000483

Items of the Luxembourg Workplace Mobbing Scale (LWMS)

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

Instruction: How often from your point of view do difficult situations arise with your colleagues or your superior?