The Positively Energizing Leadership Scale (PELS): Development and Validation

Amidst an uncertain and complex world, it remains critical to prioritize employee engagement and well-being. One of the most important factors in fostering positive workplaces is the presence of positively energizing leaders. Positively energizing leadership is an emerging form of leadership that combines relational energy and virtuous behavior. The present series of studies develops and validates the 18-item Positively Energizing Leadership Scale (PELS), the field’s first measure designed to assess perceptions of leaders’ virtuousness and relational energy. Six hundred and three participants (in two separate samples) were recruited for scale validation purposes. The process included item generation, the establishment of a preliminary measurement structure via exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and the assessment of convergent, divergent, and criterion-related validity. Results provided strong support for the internal structure, reliability, and criterion-related validity of the Positively Energizing Leadership Scale (PELS), including evidence of incremental validity beyond existing leadership measures. Evidence for discriminant validity relative to closely related leadership constructs was mixed, and this limitation is addressed. Potential organizational uses and future research opportunities are discussed.