Development and Validation of the Psychological Safety Scale in a Sample of Working Adults in Puerto Rico

Abstract

In a historical moment where health and trust are urgently needed and where change has been rapid and unexpected, the dynamics in organizational environments have transformed. Organizational culture is an important element, which is why healthy attitudes and behaviors can influence how much freedom people perceive to express themselves (Fujimot & Presbitero, 2021). It can be noted that psychological safety is a crucial element to ensure positive results in the work environment, ranging from creativity to accountability for errors and performance (Edmondson & Bransby, 2023). The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a Psychological Safety scale to measure the perception of working adults in Puerto Rico. To achieve this objective, a quantitative method with an experimental design, instrumental type with a descriptive-exploratory scope, was used on a sample of 132 workers. The results show a model with four factors that explain 33.03% of the variance of the instrument where the 13 items are distributed. Practical implications of these findings for scale interpretation and future research are discussed.