Pesten op het werk, gewikt en gewogen. Een latente-klassenbenadering op basis van de Negative Acts-vragenlijst

How to measure bullying at work? A latent class analysis of the Negative Acts Questionnaire How to measure bullying at work? A latent class analysis of the Negative Acts Questionnaire Guy Notelaers , Hans De Witte , Jeroen Vermunt & Stale Einarsen,Gedrag & Organisatie, Volume 19, Juni 2006, nr. 2, pp. 140. Bullying at work can be defined as a gradually escalating process. The actual measurements of bullying, however, do not adequately measure this process, and show several methodological and substantive shortcomings. In this study, a latent class analysis is performed on data (N = 6175) gathered with the Negative Acts Questionnaire ('objective' measurement of bullying). Six clusters can be distinguished: those 'not bullied' (35,3%), the 'limited work criticism'-cluster (27,7%), those with 'limited negative encounters' (16,5%), the 'sometimes bullied' (9%), the 'work related bullied' (8,3%) and the 'victims' (3,2%). These results suggest a cumulative measurement model for bullying at work, in which the type of negative behaviours and their intensity gradually increase. The results of this latent class analysis fit the definition of bullying at work in which such a gradual escalation is described. The size of the victims group also fits the size mentioned in the international literature, when bullying is measured with a subjective method.