Original Research

Construct, item, and method bias of cognitive and personality tests in South Africa

D. Meiring, A. J. R. Van De Vijver, S. Rothmann, M. R. Barrick
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology | Vol 31, No 1 | a182 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v31i1.182 | © 2005 D. Meiring, A. J. R. Van De Vijver, S. Rothmann, M. R. Barrick | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 26 October 2005 | Published: 29 October 2005

About the author(s)

D. Meiring, South African Police Services Pretoria, South Africa
A. J. R. Van De Vijver,, South Africa
S. Rothmann, Potchefstroom Campus, North-West University, South Africa
M. R. Barrick, University of Iowa, United States

Full Text:

PDF (137KB)

Abstract

Bias was studied for two cognitive tests and a personality test at three levels: the construct underlying the test (“construct bias"), method-related aspects such as response sets (“method bias"), and the items (“item bias"). The sample consisted of 13 681 participants who had applied for entry-level jobs in the South African Police Service. The cognitive instruments produced very good construct equivalence and low item bias. However, various scales of the personality questionnaire revealed construct bias in various ethnic groups. The item bias in the personality scales was low. Method bias did not have any impact on the (small) size of the cross-cultural differences in the personality scales. In addition, several personality scales revealed low internal consistencies, notably in the black groups.

Opsomming
Sydigheid is bestudeer vir twee kognitiewe toetse en ’n persoonlikheidstoets op drie vlakke: die konstruk onderliggend aan die toets (“konstruksydigheid�?), metode-verwante aspekte soos responspatrone (“metodesydigheid�?), en die items (“itemsydigheid�?). Die steekproef het bestaan uit 13 681 deelnemers wat aansoek gedoen het om intreevlak-poste in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens. Die kognitiewe instrumente het baie goeie konstrukekwivalensie en lae itemsydigheid getoon. Verskeie skale van die persoonlikheidsvraelys het egter konstruksydigheid in verskeie etniese groepe getoon. Die itemsydigheid in die persoonlikheidskale was laag. Metodesydigheid het nie enige uitwerking op die (klein) omvang van die kruiskulturele verskille in die persoonlikheidskale gehad nie. Verder het verskeie persoonlikheidskale lae interne konsekwentheid getoon – veral in die swart groepe.


Keywords

Cognitive tests; Personality tests

Metrics

Total abstract views: 10399
Total article views: 11901

 

Crossref Citations

1. Personality and well-being in Black and White South African emerging adults
Jan Alewyn Nel, Byron G. Adams, Fons J. R. van de Vijver, Sumaya Laher, Johann Louw, Lerato M. Makhale, Luzelle Naude, Florance Tadi
Current Issues in Personality Psychology  vol: 5  issue: 1  first page: 11  year: 2017  
doi: 10.5114/cipp.2017.64168

2. Successful Goal Attainment: Longitudinal Effects of Goal Commitment and Implicit Motives Among German and Zambian Adolescents
Jan Hofer, Ellen Kerpen, Holger Busch, Meike Lehmann, Anitha Menon
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin  vol: 50  issue: 9  first page: 1408  year: 2024  
doi: 10.1177/01461672231181938

3. A Call for, and Beginner’s Guide to, Measurement Invariance Testing in Evolutionary Psychology
Shanshan Wang, Ching-Chen Chen, Chia-Liang Dai, George B. Richardson
Evolutionary Psychological Science  vol: 4  issue: 2  first page: 166  year: 2018  
doi: 10.1007/s40806-017-0125-5

4. The Psychometric Properties of a Translated Version of the Survey Work-Home Interaction — Nijmegen (SWING) Instrument
Carin Marais, Karina Mostert, Sabine Geurts, Toon Taris
South African Journal of Psychology  vol: 39  issue: 2  first page: 202  year: 2009  
doi: 10.1177/008124630903900206

5. Testing measurement invariance of PISA 2015 mathematics, science, and ICT scales using the alignment method
Bryce Odell, Mark Gierl, Maria Cutumisu
Studies in Educational Evaluation  vol: 68  first page: 100965  year: 2021  
doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100965

6. The factor structure of the Social Axioms Survey II (SASII) in the South African context
Adi Barnard, Deon Meiring, Ian Rothmann
Journal of Psychology in Africa  vol: 27  issue: 6  first page: 522  year: 2017  
doi: 10.1080/14330237.2017.1399568

7. An Integrated Approach to Bias in a Longitudinal Survey in the United Kingdom: Assessing Construct, Method, and Item Bias in the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12)
Isabel Benítez, Byron G. Adams, Jia He
Assessment  vol: 26  issue: 7  first page: 1194  year: 2019  
doi: 10.1177/1073191117739979

8. Similarities and Differences in Implicit Personality Concepts across Ethnocultural Groups in South Africa
Velichko H. Valchev, J. Alewyn Nel, Fons J. R. van de Vijver, Deon Meiring, Gideon P. de Bruin, Sebastiaan Rothmann
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology  vol: 44  issue: 3  first page: 365  year: 2013  
doi: 10.1177/0022022112443856

9. Do they know what they know? Accuracy in teacher candidates' self‐assessments and its influencing factors
Helen M. Ernst, Jörg Wittwer, Thamar Voss
British Educational Research Journal  vol: 49  issue: 4  first page: 649  year: 2023  
doi: 10.1002/berj.3860

10. Social support and frailty progression in community-dwelling older adults
Muhammad Helmi Barghouth, Jessica Klein, Tim Bothe, Natalie Ebert, Elke Schaeffner, Nina Mielke
Frontiers in Public Health  vol: 12  year: 2024  
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1408641

11. Equivalence and Bias in the South African Substance Use Contextual Risk Instrument
Ishreen Rawoot, Maria Ann Florence
Psychological Reports  vol: 120  issue: 1  first page: 158  year: 2017  
doi: 10.1177/0033294116685865

12. Working towards Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Speech Assessments for South African Children: A Xhosa Case Study
Tessa Dowling, Emma Whitelaw
Language Matters  vol: 49  issue: 2  first page: 39  year: 2018  
doi: 10.1080/10228195.2018.1467479

13. Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory‐Short Version among young people in South Africa and the relationship of high scale scores to reported offending or similar deviant behaviour
Leon Holtzhausen, Emma Campbell
Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health  vol: 33  issue: 6  first page: 415  year: 2023  
doi: 10.1002/cbm.2317

14. Structural validity and measurement invariance of the short version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10) in selected countries
Renier Steyn, Takawira Munyaradzi Ndofirepi
Cogent Psychology  vol: 9  issue: 1  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1080/23311908.2022.2095035

15. Cross-cultural differences in social desirability scales: Influence of cognitive ability
Aletta Odendaal
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology  vol: 41  issue: 1  year: 2015  
doi: 10.4102/sajip.v41i1.1259

16. The validity of the Big Five personality traits for job performance: Meta‐analyses of South African studies
Ninette van Aarde, Deon Meiring, Brenton M. Wiernik
International Journal of Selection and Assessment  vol: 25  issue: 3  first page: 223  year: 2017  
doi: 10.1111/ijsa.12175

17. Realization of affiliation goals, interpersonal identity development, and well-being: effects of the implicit affiliation motive among German and Zambian adolescents
Jan Hofer, Holger Busch, Anitha Menon
Frontiers in Psychology  vol: 15  year: 2024  
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1355213

18. The development and validation of two equivalent organisational leadership scales from an Afrocentric perspective
Anton Grobler, Eben Enslin
SA Journal of Human Resource Management  vol: 24  year: 2026  
doi: 10.4102/SAJHRM.v24i0.3314

19. Beyond Agreeableness: Social–relational personality concepts from an indigenous and cross-cultural perspective
Velichko H. Valchev, Fons J.R. van de Vijver, Deon Meiring, J. Alewyn Nel, Carin Hill, Sumaya Laher, Byron G. Adams
Journal of Research in Personality  vol: 48  first page: 17  year: 2014  
doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2013.10.003

20. The Implicit Affiliation Motive, Evaluations of Social Life Events, and Life Satisfaction: Findings from a Cross-Cultural Study with German and Zambian Adolescents
Jan Hofer, Ellen Kerpen, Holger Busch, Meike Lehmann, Anitha Menon
Journal of Happiness Studies  vol: 23  issue: 8  first page: 4073  year: 2022  
doi: 10.1007/s10902-022-00596-1

21. Examining the construct validity of the Basic Traits Inventory and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory in the South African context
Samantha A. Metzer, Gideon P. De Bruin, Byron G. Adams
SA Journal of Industrial Psychology  vol: 40  issue: 1  year: 2014  
doi: 10.4102/sajip.v40i1.1005