Gaslighting At Work Questionnaire

Could your boss be gaslighting you? Take this to find out.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | September 17, 2024

Gaslighting in the workplace is a form of psychological manipulation where a person, usually someone in a position of authority (like a supervisor or manager), makes another individual (usually a subordinate) doubt their perceptions, memories or even their reality. Over time, this behavior can cause significant confusion, self-doubt and emotional distress, as the victim begins to question their judgment and competence.

The Gaslighting at Work Questionnaire (GWQ) is a tool developed to measure gaslighting behaviors specifically in the workplace. The questionnaire was designed to capture two key dimensions of gaslighting: trivialization and affliction. It helps identify how supervisors or leaders manipulate their subordinates by making them doubt their perceptions, actions and even their understanding of their role or responsibilities.

You can take this test here. Please follow all of the steps to receive your results.

Step 1: On a scale from never to always, rate each statement according to how often you have experienced the described behaviors at work during the past 6 months.

1. Your supervisor diverted the topic to project the fault onto you.

2. Your supervisor told you that you were "imagining" things.

3. Your supervisor passed degrading comments followed by rewards.

4. The words of your supervisor did not match with their actions.

5. Your supervisor denied the promises they made earlier.

6. Your supervisor undermined your complaints.

7. Your supervisor "twisted/misrepresented" things you said.

8. Your supervisor had unnecessary control over you.

9. Your supervisor made you your worst critic.

10. Your supervisor made you depend on them for making most of the decisions.

11. You felt emotionally drained at work because of your supervisor.

12. Your supervisor was very sweet to you one moment and very mean the other moment.

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores to people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.

References: Kukreja, P. & Pandey, J. (2023). Workplace gaslighting: Conceptualization, development, and validation of a scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1099485. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1099485