Conceptualizing and measuring power addiction: scale development and validation

Purpose In the present study, we develop and validate the Power Addiction Scale (PAS), a reliable and valid scale to assess the compulsive and excessive tendencies to seek, maintain, and exert power among managers and leaders in organizations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first scale to measure power addiction in the field of organizational behavior. Design/methodology/approach The study included 435 employees from Turkey. The scale was developed based on literature review, grouping open-ended responses, expert content validity, pre-testing, administration of the survey, and analysis of data. Analysis methods included exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability analysis using internal consistency, determined by Cronbach’s alpha, and validity analysis using average variance extracted and discriminant validity. Findings The final 29-item scale consisted of two dimensions: Power Addicted Behavior and Power Addicted Attitude. The proposed model showed good fit. Reliability, measured through coefficients alpha, was achieved with scores between 0.869 and 0.976. Convergent validity was established through average variance extracted scores greater than 0.50. The power addiction scale also achieved discriminant validity with Machiavellianism, narcissism, and personal need for power. Originality/value The study developed and validated the first psychometrically sound measure of workplace power addiction, the Power Addiction Scale, thus filling a critical gap in power addiction research. The scale can be practically applied in leadership development, organizational development, and human resource management but needs studies to test cross-cultural validation.