A Reliability Generalization Study of the Political Skill Inventory

Abstract

Measures of political skill have been shown to be significant predictors of job performance across a variety of occupations and have consistently been related to positive work-related behaviors and outcomes. A reliability generalization study was conducted on the Political Skill Inventory (PSI), currently the most frequently utilized measuring instrument for assessing the construct of political skill, to determine the weighted mean internal consistency reliability estimate of the PSI and its four dimensions across samples while also examining the effect of six potential sources of measurement error that may impact the internal consistency reliability of the PSI and its four dimensions. Across the samples that reported a reliability estimate for the Ferris et al. 18-item PSI measure, the weighted mean reliability coefficient alpha of the PSI was .89 ( k = 77, N = 15,987) and that for the six-item measure of the PSI was .81 ( k = 11, N = 2,123). Potential sources of measurement error variance that could impact the typical score reliability of the PSI and three of the four PSI subscale dimensions were identified and are discussed.