Design, development and validation of a workplace cyberbullying measure (WCM)

Cyberbullying research is beginning to expand from its roots in the youth context into the organisational realm. However, a lack of psychometrically sound scales that capture the diverse features of technological communication has hindered workplace cyberbullying research. The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable measure to assess cyberbullying across disparate working populations. Three separate studies involving a total of 944 respondents from different work settings were conducted to establish a 17-item workplace cyberbullying measure (WCM). Further validation of the WCM was established by assessing correlations with a wide range of variables. Regression analysis demonstrated that the measure explained significant incremental variance in emotional exhaustion over and above existing harassment constructs. Justification for developing the WCM is presented, along with implications for research and practise.