Perceived leader integrity scale: An instrument for assessing employee perceptions of leader integrity

Little empirical research has investigated the role of leaders' ethical integrity in their effectiveness. This may be due, in part, to the unavailability of sound measurement instruments designed for use in this area. The present research provided a partial remedy for this problem by developing and initially validating a new instrument, called the Perceived Leader Integrity Scale (PLIS). In both a student sample and an organizational field sample, the PLIS demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > .97) and expected patterns of correlation with other variables. In the organizational sample, factor analysis indicated a unidimensional factor structure. Analyses based on item response theory (IRT) indicated that the PLIS generates estimates of respondents' standing on the perceived leader integrity construct (theta) with standard errors as low as .08. Implications for further study of perceived leader integrity were discussed.