Measuring Perceived Environmental Security in the Workplace: Development and Psychometric Validation of the Perceived Environmental Security Scale (PESS)

Despite growing interest in workplace well-being within environmental psychology, validated instruments measuring perceived environmental security; the subjective experience of spatial safety, stability, and autonomy in work environments; remain scarce. This measurement gap limits our understanding of how contemporary workspace designs affect employees' fundamental psychological needs for security and control. The purpose of this paper is to present and test the psychometric properties of the Perceived Environmental Security Scale (PESS), a 12-item instrument measuring three dimensions: spatial rootedness, security-attachment, and sense of autonomy. Across two independent studies involving French employees (Study 1: N = 310; Study 2: N = 248), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses reveal that the PESS demonstrates strong construct validity, excellent internal consistency (α = .776–.856), and excellent model fit (CFI = 1.000, RMSEA = .000). The three-factor correlated structure outperforms alternative models and explains 63.61% of variance in perceived environmental security. Convergent validity is established through significant correlations with workplace attachment (r = .58–.85). Based on these results, the PESS provides environmental psychology researchers and organizational practitioners with a validated tool to assess how workspace configurations support employees' security needs and to develop evidence-based interventions for enhancing workplace well-being.