Subordinate Function Scale (SFS)

Abstract

The Subordinate Function Scale (SFS; German: Skala zur Erfassung der perzipierten Untergebenenfunktion), alongside its complementary counterpart, the Superior Function Scale (German: Skala zur Erfassung der perzipierten Vorgesetztenfunktion), constitutes a foundational psychometric battery conceptualized by sociologists and occupational psychologists Arthur Fischer and Heinz-Ulrich Kohr in 1980. Developed under the aegis of the Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr (SOWI) in collaboration with Ekkehart Lippert, Roland Wakenhut, Fritz-Felix Zelinka, and Ralf Zoll, the instrument was engineered to systematically quantify subjective workplace hierarchy perceptions among the working population. The scale operationalizes two fundamental hierarchical orientations: the perceived subordinate function (comprising 9 items measuring the subjective experience of institutional subordination, behavioral constriction, structural heteronomy, and supervisory control) and the perceived superior function (comprising 10 items assessing supervisory authority, executive discretion, personnel responsibility, and managerial oversight). Administered via a standardized 5-point Likert-type format ranging from 1 (strongly disagree / unzutreffend) to 5 (strongly agree / zutreffend), the instrument yields continuous composite scores that delineate an employee's positional self-concept within institutional power structures. Psychometric evaluation based on a nationwide representative sample of the adult West German labor force (N = 2,505) demonstrated robust internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of α = .79 for the Subordinate Function Scale and α = .88 for the Superior Function Scale. Corrected item-total correlations span from .32 to .63 for subordination items and .35 to .74 for superior function items. Designed initially as an occupational module supplementing broader surveys on socio-political attitudes, the SFS provides critical empirical insight into workplace socialization, structural alienation, democratic participation, and the psychological sequelae of occupational hierarchy.

Keywords

subordinate function scale, superior function scale, workplace hierarchy, occupational socialization, job autonomy, structural heteronomy, span of control, leadership perception, industrial sociology, psychometrics

Authors

The instrument was developed and validated by an interdisciplinary research team specializing in political sociology, military sociology, and industrial-organizational psychology within the Federal Republic of Germany:

• Arthur Fischer: Research psychologist and social scientist noted for extensive methodological work in youth studies (e.g., the German Shell Jugendstudien) and occupational socialization research.
• Dr. Heinz-Ulrich Kohr: Senior social science investigator at the Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr (SOWI), Winzererstraße 52, 80797 Munich, Germany. Dr. Kohr served as the primary corresponding psychometrician and methodologist for the occupational perception modules.
• Ekkehart Lippert: Sociologist at SOWI whose scholarship concentrated on political attitudes, institutional structures, and civilian-military organizational behavior.
• Roland Wakenhut: Psychometrician and social psychologist recognized for structural equation modeling, socio-political value orientations, and moral development within hierarchical institutions.
• Fritz-Felix Zelinka: Sociological researcher collaborating on public opinion, sociopolitical ideologies, and employment perceptions in post-war West Germany.
• Ralf Zoll: Renowned German sociologist, professor, and director of SOWI, pioneering foundational empirical research on social structure, civil-military relations, and workplace democracy.

Purpose

The Subordinate Function Scale (SFS) was engineered to measure the degree to which an employed individual subjectively perceives, internalizes, and experiences their occupational role as one characterized by institutional subordination, heteronomous regulation, directive dependence, and procedural surveillance. Concurrently, its paired dimension—the Superior Function Scale—assesses the converse occupational self-concept: the extent to which an individual exercises managerial authority, commands decision-making autonomy, monitors peers, and bears institutional accountability for the work of others.

From a theoretical perspective, the purpose of formulating these scales was to overcome an acute empirical limitation in mid-twentieth-century industrial sociology and social psychology. While traditional economic and sociological investigations routinely classified workers based on objective occupational strata (such as blue-collar wage laborers, white-collar employees, tenured civil servants, or independent proprietors), these static classifications consistently failed to capture the micro-level psychological realities of operational power and workplace subjugation. Two employees sharing identical job titles or income bands often inhabited radically distinct operational realities: one might exercise broad executive discretion and informal supervisory leadership, whereas the other was subjected to meticulous temporal pacing, unyielding operational directives, and rigid supervisory oversight.

Fischer, Kohr, and colleagues (1980) sought to construct a psychometrically sound, standardized inventory capable of mapping these subjective structural realities. Their central research objective stemmed from the “spillover hypothesis” of occupational socialization: the premise that adult human behavior, political consciousness, cognitive efficacy, and civic participation cannot be divorced from daily experiences within the workplace. For the active workforce, employment is not merely a technical or contractual engagement; it represents the primary institutional arena where adult social learning occurs. Prolonged exposure to structural subordination, lack of discretionary control, and unyielding micro-regulation was hypothesized to induce political apathy, generalized feelings of powerlessness, ideological dogmatism, or radical sociopolitical attitudes. Conversely, the experience of superior functioning, executive agency, and professional discretion was posited to reinforce internal locus of control, institutional trust, and traditional civic integration.

In contemporary research and applied organizational settings, the SFS serves multifaceted functions. In occupational health psychology, it serves as an empirical operationalization of the “decision latitude” and “control” dimensions within the Job Demands-Resources and Karasek Demand-Control models. In organizational behavior, it permits analysts to measure informal hierarchies, discrepancies between formal organizational charts and lived workplace reality, the psychological impacts of algorithmic or automated management, and the efficacy of flat, agile corporate transformations aimed at dismantling classic hierarchical subordination.

Psychological Construct

The Subordinate Function Scale measures a multidimensional yet structurally coherent latent construct: the subjective perception of subordinate status (Perzipierte Untergebenenfunktion). This construct is counterbalanced by the subjective perception of superior status (Perzipierte Vorgesetztenfunktion). Neither construct merely represents an individual's formal administrative title; rather, they reflect an integrated perceptual-cognitive schema regarding one's positional agency within the institutional hierarchy.

Perceived Subordinate Function (Untergebenenfunktion)

The construct of perceived subordinate function encapsulates the cognitive appraisal that one's vocational activities are determined, restricted, directed, and evaluated by external hierarchical authorities. It comprises four interrelated psychological facets:

• Directive Dependence (Weisungsgebundenheit): The subjective conviction that one's daily labor consists fundamentally in executing the decisions, instructions, and mandates of superiors. Employees high in this facet view themselves as implementers rather than authors of their operational objectives (e.g., feeling that one is predominantly an executor of directives).
• Structural and Procedural Heteronomy (Fremdbestimmtheit): The perception that institutional regulations, standard operating procedures, and administrative guidelines tightly constrain one's scope of action. This manifests as a perceived inability to determine work pacing, task sequence, or occupational methodology.
• Supervisory Surveillance and Monitoring (Kontrolliertheit): The subjective experience of persistent external oversight. Individuals perceiving high subordination experience their performance, presence, and daily output as subject to ongoing, close scrutiny by managerial personnel, diminishing feelings of personal trust and technical autonomy.
• Absence of Professional Discretion (Mangelnder Handlungsspielraum): The psychological appraisal that attempts to introduce personal initiative, innovation, or experimentation are preemptively curtailed by organizational hierarchy, requiring explicit upstream authorization.

Perceived Superior Function (Vorgesetztenfunktion)

Conversely, the perceived superior function construct reflects the psychological awareness and enactment of organizational authority, structural dominance, and administrative leadership. This schema comprises four core operational facets:

• Supervisory Span and Personnel Authority (Verfügungsgewalt und Weisungsbefugnis): The subjective awareness of commanding formal subordinates, issuing procedural directives, assigning tasks, and structuring the work routines of other institutional members.
• Vicarious Accountability and Responsibility (Verantwortung für Dritte): The cognitive burden and structural obligation of answering for the technical output, professional errors, and overall performance of fellow employees.
• Evaluative and Disciplinary Prerogative (Beurteilungskompetenz): The institutional duty to critically appraise, judge, and formally audit the performance, competencies, and workplace conduct of subordinates.
• Executive Discretion and Strategic Influence (Entscheidungsautonomie und Einfluss): The self-concept of possessing indispensable technical knowledge, commanding wide discretionary latitude, exerting significant influence over departmental or corporate policies, and resolving high-level institutional ambiguities.

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical architecture underpinning the Subordinate Function Scale integrates classic theories of alienation, the sociology of work, and sociopolitical socialization models pioneered during the mid-twentieth century.

Sociological Alienation and Structural Powerlessness

The scale directly translates Melvin Seeman's (1959) seminal operationalization of alienation—specifically the dimensions of powerlessness and self-estrangement—into workplace psychometrics. In industrial sociology, alienation is not conceptualized merely as an affective mood disorder, but as an objective structural disconnect between the worker and the instruments of production, decision-making apparatuses, and product disposal. Fischer and Kohr grounded their operationalization on the concept of “dispositional power” or disposal authority (Verfügungsgewalt). In classical Marxist and Weberian frameworks, the bureaucratic division of labor systematically expropriates autonomous decision-making from shop-floor workers, concentrating strategic coordination in administrative hierarchies. The SFS items capture this subjective counterpart: an internalized recognition that one occupies an asymmetrical, dependent position within the bureaucratic machinery.

The Kohn-Schooler Hypothesis of Occupational Socialization

A second foundational theoretical pillar is the occupational socialization paradigm articulated by Melvin L. Kohn and Carmi Schooler (1969, 1978). Kohn and Schooler demonstrated that the structural conditions of work—specifically structural imperativeness, occupational self-direction, and freedom from close supervision—exert a profound, reciprocal, and lifelong impact on psychological functioning. Workers whose jobs demand independent judgment, intellectual flexibility, and personal discretion develop self-directed orientations, higher cognitive complexity, and open, democratic social outlooks. Conversely, workers subjected to routinization, repetitive task structures, and intensive supervisory surveillance internalize conformist values, exhibit elevated psychological distress, and maintain fatalistic attitudes toward societal institutions. Fischer and Kohr designed the SFS and its accompanying subscales (“Internalization of Work Norms,” “Work as Instrumental Survival,” and “Work Alienation”) to test this precise transmission mechanism within the post-war German sociopolitical context.

The Spillover Hypothesis and Democratic Participation

Fischer and Kohr worked from the central hypothesis that individuals cannot compartmentalize their psychological realities. An employee who experiences 40 hours per week of absolute subordination, micro-management, and procedural voicelessness cannot effortlessly transform into an active, self-efficacious, and assertive democratic citizen outside of work hours. Persistent workplace subordination induces a psychological state of structural passivity and learned helplessness, which frequently spills over into the political arena as civic disengagement, cynicism, or vulnerability to authoritarian populist ideologies. By developing a standardized metric for perceived subordination, Fischer, Kohr, Lippert, Wakenhut, Zelinka, and Zoll provided the empirical infrastructure required to model how industrial hierarchies shape modern political culture.

Validity

Although the initial 1980 validation monograph noted that formal, modern experimental construct validation studies were not exhaustively compiled at the moment of initial release, subsequent empirical evaluations and correlational analyses within the representative 1976 West German sample (N = 2,505) and subsequent labor sociological surveys provide strong evidence of construct, convergent, criterion-related, and discriminant validity.

Construct and Convergent Validity

Construct validity is evidenced by the highly systematic patterns of intercorrelation between the Subordinate Function Scale, the Superior Function Scale, and complementary occupational perception inventories established by Fischer and Kohr:

• Instrumental Work Orientation (Arbeit als Mittel zur Existenzsicherung): Theoretical models predict that individuals experiencing high subordination and heteronomy will increasingly view work exclusively through an instrumental lens (i.e., merely as a means to secure financial livelihood rather than as an arena for self-actualization or intrinsic fulfillment). Empirical data confirmed a significant, robust positive correlation between perceived subordination and the “Work as Instrumental Survival” scale. The perception of systemic dependency and lack of autonomy directly accounts for the psychological shift toward purely extrinsic motivational frameworks.
• Internalization of Occupational Norms (Internalisierung von Arbeitsnormen): The Superior Function Scale exhibited a substantial positive correlation with the internalization of traditional work ethics, including duty, organizational loyalty, and high personal commitment. Because managerial roles require the enforcement of institutional norms, individuals who perceive high supervisory functioning show marked alignment with corporate and ideological organizational standards.
• Subjective Work Alienation (Entfremdung von der Arbeit): The Subordinate Function Scale correlates strongly and positively with psychometric scales measuring occupational meaninglessness and alienation. Workers who report that their daily routines are dictated down to the finest detail display pronounced elevations in feelings of operational senselessness and existential detachment from their occupational output.

Criterion-Related and Known-Groups Validity

Known-groups validity was rigorously established by contrasting mean scale scores across objectively stratified occupational categories within the representative national sample:

• Unskilled and semi-skilled manual laborers (Angelernte und ungelernte Arbeiter) demonstrated the highest standardized scores on the Subordinate Function Scale, coupled with near-floor scores on the Superior Function Scale.
• Senior civil servants (Höhere Beamte), authorized managerial executives (Leitende Angestellte), and self-employed professionals with staff exhibited the inverse psychometric profile, scoring at the highest percentiles on the Superior Function Scale and near the baseline minimum on the Subordinate Function Scale.
• Mid-tier clerical workers, craft foremen (Meister), and technicians exhibited intermediate, hybrid profiles, demonstrating moderate scores on both scales—reflecting the empirical reality of the “sandwich position” in corporate hierarchies where individuals are simultaneously subordinate to executive directors yet exercise direct supervisory control over operational teams.

Reliability

The psychometric reliability of the Subordinate Function Scale and the Superior Function Scale was rigorously evaluated using classical test theory methodologies on the representative West German population sample (N = 2,505). Both dimensions demonstrate strong internal consistency and item-homogeneity metrics that meet and exceed standard academic benchmarks for broad survey research batteries.

Internal Consistency

• Perceived Subordinate Function Scale (9 Items): Achieved a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of α = .79. This indicates robust internal consistency for a 9-item scale measuring a sociopsychological construct across a highly heterogeneous general population sample.
• Perceived Superior Function Scale (10 Items): Achieved an exceptional Cronbach's alpha coefficient of α = .88, demonstrating high measurement precision and structural coherence across its constituent items.

Item Discrimination and Item-Total Correlations

Corrected item-total correlation coefficients (part-whole-corrected discrimination indices; German: korrigierte Trennschärfekoeffizienten) confirmed that nearly all items contribute meaningfully to their designated target dimensions:

• For the Perceived Subordinate Function Scale, discrimination coefficients ranged from r_it = .32 to .63. Items exhibiting the highest discriminative power included Item 5 (“I am frequently supervised in my work”; r_it = .63), Item 8 (“My daily work is assigned to me”; r_it = .63), and Item 3 (“In my work, I am dependent on instructions”; r_it = .60). Lower but psychometrically acceptable discrimination was observed for Item 1 (r_it = .32) and Item 6 (r_it = .32).
• For the Perceived Superior Function Scale, discrimination indices ranged from r_it = .35 to .74. Highly discriminating items included Item 4 (“In my work, I frequently issue instructions”; r_it = .74), Item 2 (“At my workplace, I must also take responsibility for the work of others”; r_it = .73), Item 1 (“In my professional activity, I have subordinates”; r_it = .71), and Item 8 (“In my professional activity, I hold great influence”; r_it = .68). Item 3 (“I am indispensable at my workplace”) exhibited the lowest discrimination index (r_it = .35), reflecting its more subjective, affective nature compared to concrete behavioral leadership tasks.

Factor Analysis

During the structural validation of the instruments, Fischer and Kohr (1980) conducted exploratory and simultaneous factor-analytic procedures on the items to evaluate structural dimensionality and facilitate the extraction of reliable short-form inventories.

Simultaneous Factor Analysis

While strict confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with contemporary goodness-of-fit indices (e.g., RMSEA, CFI, TLI) was not technologically standard in 1980, the authors subjected the items comprising the short forms to a simultaneous exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The mathematical extraction revealed that while the items loaded predominantly on their theorized target factors—clearly demarcating a primary Subordination latent factor and a secondary Supervisory Authority latent factor—several items exhibited non-negligible cross-loadings on non-target dimensions.

Factor Loadings and Dimensional Nuances

The empirical factor space demonstrated distinct clustering patterns:

• The Subordination Factor: Items explicitly indexing operational dependence, instruction adherence, and external pacing loaded heavily onto a singular latent dimension accounting for substantial common variance. However, negatively keyed items (such as Item 7: “No one gives me instructions on how to do my work” and Item 9: “I can organize my work myself”) occasionally loaded onto a distinct secondary “autonomy/freedom from control” sub-dimension, an effect well-documented in psychometric literature as an artifact of reversed item valence.
• The Superior Function Factor: Items reflecting formal institutional command (e.g., holding subordinates, issuing directives, auditing performance) loaded decisively on the primary managerial factor. Items assessing subjective indispensability and continuous self-updating exhibited moderate cross-loadings on generalized workplace competence and professional self-efficacy dimensions.

Subsequent psychometric examinations have supported the conceptualization of these two domains as distinct, oblique (correlated) dimensions rather than strictly bipolar endpoints of a single continuum. In complex modern organizational matrices, an employee can simultaneously score moderately high on subordination (answering to regional directors) and high on superior functioning (leading multidisciplinary teams), demonstrating the structural necessity of retaining both subscales as separate measurement vectors.

Instrument / Measurement Tool

The Subordinate Function Scale and Superior Function Scale battery is structured as a self-report paper-and-pencil or computerized questionnaire. Below is the structural architectural specification of the diagnostic instrument:

• Test Type: Standardized self-report rating inventory; operational perceptual measure.
• Target Population: Employed adults across all industrial, commercial, civil service, and military occupational sectors.
• Total Number of Items: 19 items across two dedicated subscales:
  • Perceived Subordinate Function Subscale: 9 items (Items 1 through 9).
  • Perceived Superior Function Subscale: 10 items (Items 10 through 19).
• Short Forms Available: An abbreviated 6-item version exists for the Superior Function Scale (incorporating Items 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 of that subscale) for large-scale demographic surveys where survey real estate is strictly constrained.
• Response Format: 5-point Likert scale (e.g., 1 = trifft überhaupt nicht zu [strongly disagree] to 5 = trifft voll und ganz zu [strongly agree]). In the original 1980 normative documentation, the verbal anchors were defined as:
  • 1 = zutreffend (fully applicable / true)
  • 2 = eher zutreffend (largely applicable / mostly true)
  • 3 = weder/noch (neither true nor untrue / undecided)
  • 4 = eher unzutreffend (largely inapplicable / mostly untrue)
  • 5 = unzutreffend (completely inapplicable / untrue)
• Scoring and Transformation Rules:
  • Before calculating composite scores, all negatively phrased items must be reverse-coded so that higher numerical values systematically represent higher perceived subordination or higher perceived superior authority.
  • In the original scoring direction: Responses are mapped onto a 1-to-5 integer scale where unzutreffend = 1, eher unzutreffend = 2, weder/noch = 3, eher zutreffend = 4, and zutreffend = 5.
  • Subordinate Function Scale Score: Sum of Items 1 to 9 (theoretical score range: 9 to 45). Alternatively, a mean score ranging from 1.0 to 5.0 can be computed.
  • Superior Function Scale Score: Sum of Items 10 to 19 (theoretical score range: 10 to 50). Alternatively, a mean score ranging from 1.0 to 5.0 can be computed.
• Administration Time: Approximately 4 to 7 minutes for the complete 19-item battery.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Subordinate Function Scale and Superior Function Scale battery was initially constructed in 1976 and formally published in academic research literature in 1980 by Arthur Fischer and Heinz-Ulrich Kohr in their foundational monograph Zentrale Arbeitsperzeptionen Berufstätiger. The research was supported and disseminated under the public auspices of the Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr (SOWI) in Munich, Germany.

As an instrument developed within an academic research institute and published in open scientific literature, the scale is generally accessible for non-commercial academic research, pedagogical purposes, and scientific inquiry without royalties or licensing fees. Researchers utilizing the inventory in empirical investigations are expected to maintain scholarly integrity by formally citing the primary source documentation (Fischer & Kohr, 1980). Inquiries regarding commercial employment assessments, organizational consulting implementations, or historical archives should be directed to:

Dr. Heinz-Ulrich Kohr
Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr (SOWI)
Winzererstraße 52
80797 München, Germany

References

• Fischer, A., & Kohr, H.-U. (1980). Zentrale Arbeitsperzeptionen Berufstätiger: Zur Konstruktion von Skalen zur Erfassung von Untergebenen- und Vorgesetztenfunktion, Arbeitsnormen, Existenzsicherung und Entfremdung. In E. Lippert, R. Wakenhut, F.-F. Zelinka, & R. Zoll (Eds.), Sozio-politische Einstellungen und Arbeitsperzeptionen von Erwerbstätigen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (SOWI-Arbeitsheft Nr. 12, pp. 115–148). Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr.
• Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2), 285–308. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392498
• Kohn, M. L., & Schooler, C. (1969). Class, occupation, and orientation. American Sociological Review, 34(5), 659–678. https://doi.org/10.2307/2092186
• Kohn, M. L., & Schooler, C. (1978). The reciprocal effects of the substantive complexity of work and intellectual flexibility: A longitudinal assessment. American Journal of Sociology, 84(1), 24–52. https://doi.org/10.1086/226739
• Lippert, E., Wakenhut, R., & Zoll, R. (1978). Sozio-politische Einstellungen von Berufstätigen: Forschungsbericht. Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr.
• Seeman, M. (1959). On the meaning of alienation. American Sociological Review, 24(6), 783–791. https://doi.org/10.2307/2088565

13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)