Ever Thought About Strikes? Development of a Scale to Assess Attitudes and Behavioral Reactions to Strikes

Abstract

Strikes are a recurrent phenomenon in many countries. However, research on strikes from a psychological perspective has been limited. By developing a sound measure to assess attitudes and behavioral reactions to strikes, we will be in a better position to evaluate these constructs in individuals and compare across studies. Therefore, we developed a scale to assess attitudes and behavioral reactions to strikes following classic scale development guidelines using four samples (total N = 1369; N1 = 304, N2 = 209, N3 = 443, N4 = 413). In Study 1, we used exploratory factor analysis to reduce the generated items to a scale and showed that the strike attitude and behavioral reactions scale consists of one affective factor (negative reactions towards strikes), one cognitive factor (legitimacy of strikes), and three behavioral factors (informing oneself about strikes, strike-related social network behavior, and support of strikers). Study 2 confirmed these five factors and showed acceptable psychometric properties. Study 3 supported the construct validity of the developed scale: the five factors were correlated with willingness to strike and attitudes towards unions, among other variables. Study 4 further showed that the scale can also capture attitudes and behavioral reactions towards specific strikes. Overall, these studies indicate that the strike attitude and behavioral reactions scale is a psychometrically sound measure consisting of five factors.

Measurement Equivalence of the English, German, and French Versions of the Strike Attitude and Behavioral Reactions Scale (SABeRS)

“…We translated the German SABeRS and the items on willingness to strike (Vesper & König, 2022) into English and French using a back-translation process based on recommendations from Schaffer and Riordan (2003). For both English and French, we consulted two individuals, one of these was either a native or fluent speaker in English or French, respectively, as well as German, whereas the second individual was a native German speaker and trained translator in one of the respective languages.…”

“…Given the importance of public attitudes to strikes for employers and unions and thus also for everybody interested in understanding strikes and their consequences, it also becomes important to measure these attitudes. So far, only the Strike Attitude and Behavioral Reactions Scale (SABeRS; Vesper & König, 2022) has been proposed as a German scale to measure these beliefs and behavioral reactions. The measure is based on the five factors negative reactions to strikes, legitimacy of strikes, informing oneself about strikes, behavior in social networks to strikes, and support of strikers.…”

“…The measure is based on the five factors negative reactions to strikes, legitimacy of strikes, informing oneself about strikes, behavior in social networks to strikes, and support of strikers. In their scale development paper, Vesper and König (2022) conducted four studies in Germany. Study 1 aimed at reducing the initial item pool, and Study 2 showed the reliability of the scale consisting of five factors with a new sample.…”

“…Study 1 aimed at reducing the initial item pool, and Study 2 showed the reliability of the scale consisting of five factors with a new sample. In Study 3, Vesper and König (2022) assessed the convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. They found that the five factors were significantly associated with attitudes toward unions and willingness to strike and were not or to a smaller extent related to general self-efficacy, openness to new experiences, and extraversion.…”

“…Furthermore, people with no previous strike participation and non-union members indicated more negative reactions and less legitimacy of strikes, informing themselves about strikes, strike-related social network behavior, and support of strikers compared to people who had previously participated in a strike and union members. In Study 4, Vesper and König (2022) applied the scale to a specific strike showing that the scale also works for specific and not only for general attitudes and reactions to strikes. In this study, the same pattern of correlations was found as in Study 3.…”