Is My Boss a Bully Quiz
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- They recognize contributions and address mistakes according to the evidence.
- They sometimes minimize my contribution or emphasize my errors more than others’.
- They repeatedly take credit for my work while assigning me blame for decisions they made.
- They fabricate serious misconduct, alter evidence, or coerce me to accept responsibility under threat.
- They explain the concern directly and allow me to respond.
- They become curt or impatient in ways that make the conversation uncomfortable.
- They shout, swear at me, or repeatedly use personal put-downs.
- They corner me, make a threatening gesture, or explicitly threaten harm or punishment outside a fair process.
- I can ask without being personally punished, even if the answer is no.
- My boss treats the request as disloyal or becomes less approachable.
- They block support, damage my opportunities, or repeatedly punish me for seeking review.
- They threaten severe consequences, force me to withdraw the request, or interfere with my access to emergency or legal support.
Is My Boss a Bully Quiz - Description and methodology of the test
People who feel demeaned, controlled, or punished by a manager can use the Is My Boss a Bully Quiz to organize supervisory behaviors across three result dimensions. It is intended for self-reflection about conduct at work, not for labeling every difficult interaction. The concrete situations let this bullying at work test organize indicators involving humiliation, isolation, retaliation, and control.
What This Assessment Explores
The questionnaire separates disagreement from patterns that make authority feel unsafe. It examines humiliation, intimidation, retaliation after concerns are raised, exclusion from communication, excessive monitoring, obstructive demands, and pressure around boundaries or support.
Three dimensions describe the result:
- Humiliation and Intimidation (0-15) measures demeaning, embarrassing, or threatening treatment; bands are No indicators endorsed (0-0), Worth noting (1-2), and Action warranted (3-15).
- Isolation and Retaliation (0-15) measures exclusion, boundary pressure, and punishment for raising concerns; bands are No indicators endorsed (0), Worth noting (1-2), and Action warranted (3-15).
- Work Obstruction and Excessive Control (0-15) measures blocked work, shifting demands, surveillance, and coercive control; bands are No indicators endorsed (0-0), Worth noting (1-2), and Action warranted (3-15).
The profile in this workplace bullying quiz shows how endorsed indicators fall across the three dimensions, without proving motive or establishing a legal definition.
Methodology and Scientific Basis
Each item offers four response choices, ranging from fair management to humiliation, retaliation, coercion, or threats. The situations cover supervision, communication, workload, monitoring, and disagreement. Choose the response that best matches the recurring pattern, not one awkward exchange.
The displayed bands are unvalidated reflective bands, not severity, legal, clinical, or normative cutoffs. A single red-flag response worth 3 points overrides the relevant total; the score does not determine intent.
Conceptually, the questionnaire is consistent with the Abusive Supervision Scale and the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised, which address hostile supervision and workplace bullying or harassment. Their distinct emphases help explain why this tool brings together supervisory mistreatment, bullying, and related workplace behaviors; it is not an administration or adaptation of those instruments.
To examine whether a boss's conduct forms a bullying pattern, this boss bullying test uses online self-report rather than a clinical interview. Memory, stress, fear of retaliation, and context can shape answers. Use the profile to document relevant events where doing so is safe and compare patterns over time; seek broader review when consequences are serious.
- Tepper, Bennett J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43(2), 178-190. 10.5465/1556375
- Einarsen, Ståle, Hoel, Helge, and Notelaers, Guy. (2009). Measuring exposure to bullying and harassment at work: Validity, factor structure and psychometric properties of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised. Work & Stress, 23(1), 24-44. 10.1080/02678370902815673
- Tepper, Bennett J., and Henle, Christine A. (2011). A case for recognizing distinctions among constructs that capture interpersonal mistreatment in work organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(3), 487-498. 10.1002/job.688
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