This Place Is Full of It: Towards an Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale

2020/12/03 by Caitlin Ferreira, David R. Hannah, Ian P. McCarthy +2 · 1 voice · 4 citations
Social Sciences · Decision Sciences · #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Ethics in Business and Education #Workplace Violence and Bullying

paper · doi:10.1177/0033294120978162

openalex publication_date 2020/12/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale (OBPS) using two samples of employees of organizations in various sectors. The scale is designed to gauge perceptions of the extent of organizational bullshit that exists in a workplace, where bullshit is operationalized as individuals within an organization making statements with no regard for the truth. Analyses revealed three factors of organizational bullshit, termed regard for truth, the boss and bullshit language. The three factors are consistent with existing literature in the field of organizational bullshit and offer further insight into how employees view workplace bullshit. The OBPS constitutes three subscales measuring these factors. Future researchers should seek to validate the OBPS and further develop the identified factors of organizational bullshit.

Citations

• On bullshit in cultural policy practice and research: notes from the British case
• A Second Generation Little Jiffy
• Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.
• Coefficient Alpha and the Internal Structure of Tests
• The Application of Electronic Computers to Factor Analysis
• On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit
• Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace bullshit
• Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error

Cited by

• A Multi-national Analysis of the Relationship Between Assimilation and Bullshit
• Feeling safe at work: Development and validation of the Psychological Safety Inventory
• Bullshitting and Bullibility – Conditions and Consequences
• The Corporate Bullshit Receptivity Scale: Development, validation, and associations with workplace outcomes

Discussions

• New to me and interesting: "This Place Is Full of It: Towards and Organizational Bullshit Perception Scale" doi.org/10.1177/0033... My own copy of the PDF: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zwxrw... [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]