Climate of Accountability and Interpersonal Respect (CAIR): Development and Validation of a New Organizational Survey
Year: 2023
Type: preprint
Abstract: Background This research describes the development and validation of the CAIR Climate Survey, a 22-item measure designed to assess interpersonal dimensions of work-unit climates. Dimensions of work-unit climates are identified through work-unit member perceptions and include civility, interpersonal accountability, conflict resolution, and institutional harassment responsiveness.Methods Two samples (N=1384; N=868) of academic researchers, including one from the North American membership of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and one from a large research-intensive university, responded to the CAIR and additional measures via an online survey. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded four dimensions of interpersonal climate, and we find evidence for the internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity of the CAIR, and excellent sub-group invariance. Conclusions The CAIR is a brief, psychometrically sound instrument that can be used by researchers, institutional leaders, and other practitioners to assess interpersonal climates in organizational work-units. Originality/Value This is the first study to develop and validate such a measure of interpersonal climates specifically in research-intensive organizations, using rigorous psychometric methods, grounded in both theory and prior research on work-unit climates.
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4372325341