Negative Acts Questionnaire – Revised

What it measures

The most widely used measure of exposure to workplace bullying and harassment. Assesses the frequency of negative acts at work without labelling them as bullying — reducing stigma bias. Three dimensions distinguish personal attacks, work-related sabotage, and physical intimidation.

Response format

Likert (1–5, never to daily) over the past 6 months

Representative items

• Someone withholding information which affects your performance.
• Being ignored or excluded.
• Having insulting or offensive remarks made about your person or private life.
• Being ordered to do work below your level of competence.
• Having key areas of responsibility removed or replaced with trivial tasks.

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available from Ståle Einarsen. Latent profile analysis can classify respondents as non-exposed, occasionally bullied, or bullied. A victim criterion question can be appended for categorical identification. Standard instrument for European workplace bullying research.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., & Notelaers, G. (2009). Measuring exposure to bullying and harassment at work: Validity, factor structure and psychometric properties of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 18(1), 24–44.

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