This study conceptualizes and measures workplace stigma as a multidimensional organizational construct. It introduces the workplace stigma questionnaire (WSQ) to assess how stigma manifests across individual, relational and structural levels within organizations, providing a framework for understanding how difference is managed at work.
Drawing on organizational behavior and social psychology literatures, an initial item pool was developed and refined through a multi-phase scale development process. The WSQ was tested using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across two samples of working adults. Reliability, convergent validity, divergent validity and predictive validity were examined.
Analyses supported a five-factor model of workplace stigma: functional stigma, acknowledged stigma, interpersonal enacted stigma, organizational enacted stigma and internalized stigma. Results demonstrate that workplace stigma is not a unitary phenomenon but a constellation of distinct processes operating across multiple organizational levels. Functional stigma was positively associated with relational outcomes, whereas interpersonal enacted, organizational enacted and internalized stigma were negatively associated with psychological and relational outcomes. Overall, the WSQ demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties.
Some subscales, particularly functional and organizational enacted stigma, would benefit from additional item development. Future research should test the WSQ across industries, cultures and longitudinal designs to examine its broader applicability.
The WSQ offers leaders, consultants and HR professionals a diagnostic tool for identifying how stigma operates within their organizations and for tailoring interventions to specific interpersonal and structural mechanisms.
By clarifying how stigma is embedded in organizational practices and relationships, this study supports efforts to foster more equitable and psychologically safe workplaces.
This research reframes stigma as a measurable organizational phenomenon rather than a solely psychological or identity-based construct. By validating a multidimensional typology and instrument designed for organizational contexts, the study extends stigma theory and provides a behaviorally grounded alternative to abstract diversity frameworks.
