Italian adaptation of the Workplace Ostracism Scale: A psychometric analysis based on item response theory

Introduction: The term Workplace Ostracism (WO) refers to a specific form of social exclusion, involving the perception of being ignored and/or excluded by colleagues or supervisors at the workplace. Given the harmful consequences of WO on both individual and organizational outcomes, the assessment of this phenomenon is crucial. The current study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Workplace Ostracism Scale (WOS), the most commonly used tool for WO evaluation. Methods: A sample of 441 Italian employees (53.3% males; Mage = 35, SD = 9.98) was recruited via the Prolific Academic platform. We conducted analyses using an Item Response Theory (IRT) framework. Results: Our results confirmed the unidimensionality of the scale [χ2 (34) = 68.962, p < .001, CFI = .963, TLI = .951, RMSEA = .048 (.032 - 065), SRMR = .035] and suggested that the instrument was more informative at higher levels of the trait. The negative associations between WOS θ scores and outcomes, including job satisfaction, job engagement, organizational citizenship behavior, and life satisfaction, supported the validity of the scale. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses indicated that the WOS showed minimal gender non-invariance and was invariant across age groups. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the WOS is a robust measure for assessing acute cases of workplace ostracism, which enhances its utility in high-risk settings.