Scale library · HRM & organizational behavior
In-role performance scale: Williams & Anderson (1991)
Williams and Anderson's (1991) in-role behavior scale measures how far an employee fulfils the duties in the job description. It was developed together with the OCBI and OCBO citizenship scales to separate required from voluntary behavior. The items are written in the third person, so supervisors can rate employees, or the items can be adapted for self-rating. It is a common outcome in theses on leadership, engagement, empowerment and job satisfaction.
Cite the original, not the blog.
- Model or scale: IRB
- Constructs: 1
- Items: 7 (2 reverse-coded)
Original English items
Items marked (R) are reverse-coded: recode them before computing reliability or scale scores. Replace bracketed placeholders such as [system] with the name of the system, brand or organization you study.
In-Role Behavior (IRB, 7 items)
| Code | Item wording | Reverse-coded |
|---|---|---|
| IRB1 | Adequately completes assigned duties | No |
| IRB2 | Fulfills responsibilities specified in job description | No |
| IRB3 | Performs tasks that are expected of him | No |
| IRB4 | Meets formal performance requirements of the job | No |
| IRB5 | Engages in activities that will directly affect his performance evaluation | No |
| IRB6 (R) | Neglects aspects of the job he is obligated to perform | Yes |
| IRB7 (R) | Fails to perform essential duties | Yes |
Response scale
Agreement scale, usually 5 or 7 points (1 = Strongly disagree … 5 or 7 = Strongly agree) in studies reusing it. Reverse-score IRB6 and IRB7 before computing the mean.
Recoding reverse-coded items: 1–5 scale: new score = 1 + 5 − score = 6 − score; 1–7 scale: new score = 1 + 7 − score = 8 − score.
Licence and permission
The items are published in the original article in the Journal of Management and widely used in research; we found no specific terms of use from the authors. Cite the original article.
Sources (APA 7)
- Williams, L. J., & Anderson, S. E. (1991). Job satisfaction and organizational commitment as predictors of organizational citizenship and in-role behaviors. Journal of Management, 17(3), 601–617. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700305
Vietnamese translation
A Vietnamese translation of every item, with sample-size advice and studies that used the scale, is on the Vietnamese page for this scale.