Measuring Impression Management in Organizations: A Scale Development Based on the Jones and Pittman Taxonomy

Abstract

Five studies were conducted to develop a measure of employee impression management behaviors based on the taxonomy proposed by Jones and Pittman. In Study 1, 44 items were given to student judges to verify the content validity of the items. In Study 2, the scale was administered to a sample of professionals and exploratory factor analysis was conducted. Based on the results, revisions to the scale were made. In Study 3, the revised scale was administered to a group of managers and exploratory factor analysis was again performed. In Study 4, the final version of the scale was administered to another sample of professionals and confirmatory factor analysis was performed. Finally, in Study 5, the convergent and discriminant validity of the scale was assessed using a sample of management students. The results support the taxonomy presented by Jones and Pittman. Suggestions for future research using the new measure are discussed.