Investigating measurement invariance in the South African Personality Inventory: English version
Morton,Nadia Hill,Carin Meiring,Deon Van De Vijver,Fons Jr
Morton,Nadia
Hill,Carin
Meiring,Deon
Van De Vijver,Fons Jr
Abstract
We are interested in the psychometric properties of the South African Personality Inventory, a personality measure developed to apply equally to speakers of all official languages in South Africa, by testing for measurement invariance across the four ethnocultural groups in South Africa. We conducted an exploratory structural equation modelling analysis to eliminate any restrictions on the variables and to allow them to covary. While measurement invariance was found on configural and metric levels, scalar invariance was not found. The results advance the aim of the South African Personality Inventory to comply with stipulations in South Africa’s Employment Equity Act regarding fair and unbiased assessments.
Description
Funding Information: Morton Nadia 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0297-9115 Hill Carin 1 Meiring Deon 2 van de Vijver Fons JR 3 4 5 6 1 Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, University of Johannesburg, South Africa 2 Department of Human Resource Management, University of Pretoria, South Africa 3 Higher School of Economics, Russia 4 Department of Culture Studies, Tilburg University, The Netherlands 5 WorkWell Research Unit for Economics and Management Sciences, North-West University, South Africa 6 The University of Queensland, Australia Carin Hill, Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa. Email: chill@uj.ac.za 9 2019 0081246319877537 © The Author(s) 2019 2019 Psychological Society of South Africa We are interested in the psychometric properties of the South African Personality Inventory, a personality measure developed to apply equally to speakers of all official languages in South Africa, by testing for measurement invariance across the four ethnocultural groups in South Africa. We conducted an exploratory structural equation modelling analysis to eliminate any restrictions on the variables and to allow them to covary. While measurement invariance was found on configural and metric levels, scalar invariance was not found. The results advance the aim of the South African Personality Inventory to comply with stipulations in South Africa’s Employment Equity Act regarding fair and unbiased assessments. Cross-cultural research indigenous psychology measurement invariance South African Personality Inventory national research foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/100011512 111764 edited-state corrected-proof The authors thank Dr Velichko Fetvadjiev, Prof Leon de Beer, Prof Pieter Schaap, and Prof Callie Theron for their expert advice. Dedication The authors want to dedicate this article in honour of one of the co-authors, Prof Fons van de Vijver, who sadly passed away on 1 June 2019 while this article was under review. Prof Fons van de Vijver has been a main collaborator in the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) since 2005 and made significant contributions towards the project. His wisdom and guidance will be greatly missed. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Herewith a formal acknowledgement of the research funding was provided by the National Research Foundation (NRF) (grant no. 111764). The conclusions derived and opinions expressed are those of the authors and should not be ascribed to the NRF. ORCID iD Carin Hill https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0297-9115 Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2019.
Date
2020-06-01
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Keywords
Cross-cultural research, South African Personality Inventory, indigenous psychology, measurement invariance, SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
Citation
Morton, N, Hill, C, Meiring, D & Van De Vijver, F J 2020, 'Investigating measurement invariance in the South African Personality Inventory : English version', South African Journal of Psychology, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 274-289. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246319877537