From leadership research to district action: Development and validation of a multidimensional organizational dehumanization scale: Evidence from higher education

AI-assisted editorial implementation guide. Proposed district actions are separate from the original authors’ findings and recommendations. Independent peer review of this guide is not asserted.

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Evidence and transfer

Education-related source: verify which participants, institutions and outcomes were actually studied before district adoption. Source publication type: research-article. License and identity checks do not establish study quality or causality.

Original authors’ abstract, reproduced under the source license:

Organizational dehumanization has become a salient concern in contemporary academic work, particularly in higher education systems shaped by managerial and metric-driven governance. This study aimed to develop and validate a psychometrically robust instrument to assess academics’ perceived organizational dehumanization. Using two independent samples of academics in Türkiye (EFA sample: n = 318; CFA sample: n = 263; total N = 581), we examined the scale’s factor structure, reliability, and validity evidence. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor model reflecting Devaluation and Instrumentality, yielding a final 34-item scale. The model demonstrated acceptable-to-strong fit indices (χ²/df = 2.28; CFI = .99; NFI = .97; RMSEA = .074; SRMR = .045), high internal consistency (α = .93−.96; overall α = .96), and evidence for discriminant validity, with mixed evidence for convergent validity at the subdimension level. Overall, the findings suggest that the proposed scale provides a reliable, multidimensional measure of academics' organizational dehumanization perceptions, validated in a higher education sample, and offers a tool for future research and institutional diagnostics in university contexts.

Study methods

In this study, data were collected from two independent samples of academics to examine the psychometric properties of the newly developed Multidimensional Organizational Dehumanization Scale. Evidence based on the internal structure of the scale was first examined through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using the first sample, which consisted of 318 academics. The factor structure identified in the EFA was then evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a second, independent sample consisting of 263 academics with broadly comparable characteristics. Overall, the study included 581 participants across the two samples.

Limitations

Several limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study. First, although the scale was developed and validated using two independent samples, the data were collected through online self-report surveys from academics. As with most self-report designs, responses may be influenced by common method effects or response styles.

A 90-day district inquiry

Days 1–15 · Appraise. Read the source methods, recruitment, comparator, outcomes and limitations. Record how the study setting differs from your district and which claim the design can support.
Days 16–30 · Design. Choose one school improvement question with teachers. Protect a short shared planning cycle, agree an instructional change and use a common rubric for examining student work. Agree participation, privacy protections, baseline and stopping rules before starting.
Days 31–60 · Observe. Collect the pre-agreed measures, keep a log of implementation changes and invite confidential voluntary feedback. Preserve existing support for staff and learners.
Days 61–90 · Decide. Review implementation fidelity, teacher time and independently scored student work against a recorded baseline. Examine access differences and competing explanations before attributing changes to leadership. Make a dated decision to stop, revise or extend the inquiry.

Board decision brief

Present the local problem, source setting, evidence limits, intervention, responsible owner, total cost, measured changes and uncertainty. Separate staff perceptions, implementation measures and student learning outcomes.

Attribution and reuse

Semin Kazazoglu; Dilruba Sahin; Cem Oktay Guzeller; Dilek Ilhan-Findikoglu; Fuat Findikoglu. Development and validation of a multidimensional organizational dehumanization scale: Evidence from higher education. PLOS One (2026-07-06). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0351254

Prepared 2026-11-07. Source authorship and DOI are preserved. The abstract and source passages are attributed extracts; this editorial guide is offered under the same CC BY 4.0 license.