Followership measurement instruments: A systematic review of the literature

Retno Pandan Arum Kusumowardhani (Department of Psychology, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia)
Seger Handoyo (Department of Applied Psychology, Airlangga University, East Java, Indonesia)
Fajrianthi Fajrianthi (Department of Applied Psychology, Airlangga University, East Java, Indonesia)
Rakhman Ardi (Department of Psychology, Airlangga University, East Java, Indonesia)

INSPIRA: Indonesian Journal of Psychological Research
Vol. 7 No. 1 (2026): Vol. 7 No. 1 June 2026

While leadership has long dominated organizational research, followership has emerged over the last three decades as a critical driver of organizational success. The growth of this field heavily relies on robust, validated measurement instruments; yet, a comprehensive evaluation of these tools remains scarce. This study presents a systematic review of available followership meaurement instruments using PRISMA framework. A rigorous search across seven major databases (EBSCO, Emerald, SAGE, ScienceDirect, Scopus, SpringerLink, and ProQuest) for articles published between 1992 and 2022 yielded 12 eligible studies for synthesis. This review contributes to the literature in three ways: it synthesizes descriptive data from the selected studies, and evaluates the methodological rigor of scale construction and validation for the 12 measures. Finally, we propose a strategic agenda for future research to advance the methodological standards and theoretical boundaries of followership studies.