Description of the Questionnaire

The Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terrorization (LIPT) is a structured questionnaire developed by Heinz Leymann, aimed at documenting systematic acts of psychological harassment (mobbing) in the workplace. The tool consists of 45 statements describing various forms of aggressive or oppressive behavior from colleagues or supervisors. The statements are categorized into five sections: restriction of communication, isolation from social relations, damage to reputation, occupational degradation, and direct attacks on health or personality. Respondents are asked to indicate how often they have experienced each behavior during the past 6 to 12 months.

Objective

The purpose of the LIPT is to identify and quantify an individual’s experience of prolonged and systematic forms of psychological pressure or terrorization in the workplace. The tool enables researchers, psychologists, and human resources professionals to assess the severity and frequency of bullying incidents.

Scoring

Each of the 45 behaviors is rated on a frequency scale as follows: 0 for never, 1 for rarely (once a month or less), 2 for occasionally (once a week), 3 for often (several times a week), and 4 for daily. The total number of positive responses and their frequency may indicate a low, moderate, or high risk of psychological terrorization, based on the number of different behaviors and their intensity. The duration of these behaviors—especially if they persist for more than six months—is a critical factor in assessing the seriousness of the phenomenon.

Data Analysis and Use

The data collected through the LIPT can be analyzed descriptively, by calculating the frequency of occurrences per question and category, comparatively between population groups (such as gender, age, or work department), and associatively, by linking responses with other indicators such as job burnout, mental health, or job satisfaction. Analysis can be conducted using statistical software such as SPSS or Excel. Ensuring participant anonymity and confidentiality during data collection and analysis is strongly recommended.

Bibliography

Leymann, H. (1990). Mobbing and Psychological Terror at Workplaces. Violence and Victims, 5(2), 119–126. Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., & Cooper, C. L. (2011). Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace: Developments in Theory, Research, and Practice. CRC Press. Zapf, D., & Einarsen, S. (2005). Mobbing at work: Escalated conflicts in organizations. In Fox & Spector (Eds.), Counterproductive Work Behavior: Investigations of Actors and Targets, APA. Notelaers, G., & Einarsen, S. (2013). The construction and validity of the Short-Negative Acts Questionnaire (S-NAQ). Work & Stress, 27(3), 235–252.