ADAPTATION AND VALIDATION OF THE SCALES FOR ASSESSING WORKPLACE FUN IN TURKEY

Purpose - Fun in the workplace has frequently been highlighted in the popular media and increasingly attracted research attention. Its various positive outcomes have also been pointed out in the literature. Despite the growing relevance of workplace fun, its measurement has not been extensively tested, particularly in emerging markets. Accordingly, this study was intended to adapt and validate existing scales measuring different aspects of workplace fun in Turkey. Methodology - Four measures of workplace fun, namely “fun activities”, “fun job responsibilities”, “coworker socializing” and “manager support for fun”, were identified from the literature. These measures were translated and adapted for a Turkish sample. Their face validity and content validity were checked by experts in the field. Subsequently, the measures were tested on a sample of 254 employees working in startups in Turkey. The sample was randomly split into two groups for exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings - 24 items were derived from the literature. As expected, four factors were revealed in the exploratory factor analysis. One item was removed due to the insufficient factor loading on any factor. The reliability values of all factors were satisfactory. These results were confirmed in the confirmatory factor analysis, which showed that the measurement model had an acceptable fit to the sample data. In addition, the discriminant validity and the convergent validity were established. Conclusion - The findings of this study suggested that the adapted version of the scales for measuring “fun job responsibilities”, “fun activities”, “manager support for fun”, and “coworker socializing” can be used in Turkey. Researchers can employ these scales to examine the four dimensions of workplace fun as distinct constructs. Additionally, managers can utilize the validated indicators of workplace fun as a basis for creating a fun workplace.

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