The construct equivalence of the PIB/SPEEX socialization index for job applicants from diverse cultural backgrounds

Abstract

Today's globalised team culture of business places a premium on effective social skill, as social skill is needed for effective leadership, customer services, negotiation as well as for the acquiring and sharing of information. Psychological tests are commonly used as aids in determining whether individuals have the necessary skills for a specific job. Practically all psychometric tests are western in origin, which implies that the measuring of the psychological constructs are based upon a western culture. This brings into question the bias and validity of psychometric instruments when utilised on other cultures, as constructs may not be similarly defined or interpreted in all cultural groups. Construct equivalence implies that the same construct is measured across all cultural groups being studied, regardless of whether or not the measurement of the construct is based on identical instruments across all cultures. Construct equivalence is thus a pre-requisite for valid comparison of scores across the cultural groups being studied. The aim of this study is therefore to determine the construct equivalence of the PIB/SpEEx Socialization Index for job applicants from diverse cultural backgrounds in the public safety and security sector in South Africa. Exploratory- as well as Confirmatory Factor Analytic techniques were used to determine the intercultural equivalence of the sociability and the A-sociability constructs underlying the PIB/SpEEx Socialisation Index. Preliminary single group Confirmatory Factor analysis was conducted to establish how good the data fit the model in respect of each of the cultural groups, followed by a multi-group analysis of factorial invariance. The results of this study revealed that the constructs of the PIB/SpEEx Socialisation Index are equivalent for the Black, Asian, White and Coloured groups.