Workplace Productivity of Persons Who Use Controlling Behavior With Intimate Partners

The goal of this project is to pilot-test an instrument that is designed to assess the relationship between persons who use controlling behavior with intimate partners, as a risk factor for perpetrating intimate partner violence, and workplace productivity. The goal is to validate a survey instrument that can be applied to other workplace settings to measure productivity losses associated with controlling and aggressive behavior, which will serve to inform the development of workplace interventions designed to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV). This pilot-test will include two components of a survey conducted with employees in a workplace setting: questions to determine one’s controlling behavior or propensity for violence in an intimate relationship, and questions designed to assess levels of productivity as measured by days missed from work (absenteeism) and days at work with diminished functional output (presenteeism). We expect productivity to decrease as one’s controlling behavior or propensity for perpetrating IPV increases. This study represents one of the first workplace surveys designed to measure workplace productivity as a function of controlling or violent behavior. Successful results would argue for a more wide-scale testing of the instrument, which could ultimately lead to the development of workplace interventions designed to prevent IPV.