Unobtrusive measurement of psychological constructs in organizational research

Measurement in organizational psychology is dominated by the use of approaches that require the cooperation of a respondent—namely, questionnaires and interviews. The goal of this article is to increase and improve the use of unobtrusive measures as a supplemental means to assess psychological constructs in organizational research. Specifically, we first illustrate the merit and necessity of utilizing unobtrusive measures. Next, we review the literature employing unobtrusive measures to assess psychological constructs and then discuss threats to validity associated with these approaches. Finally, we offer recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of unobtrusive measures in future research.