California Psychological Inventory Dominance Scale Measurement Equivalence: General Population Normative and Indian, U.K., and U.S. Managerial Samples

Abstract

The California Psychological Inventory’s Dominance scale was investigated for inconsistencies in item—trait associations across four samples (one American normative and three culturally dissociated manager groupings). The Kim, Cohen, and Park procedure was used, enabling simultaneous multigroup comparison in addition to the traditional differential item functioning focus on paired-group contrasts. Framing comparisons within Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Dominance construct—item association inconsistencies were predicted to occur across Indian manager responses (when contrasted relatively with U.S. and U.K. responses). Results are consistent with the Hofstede predictions and have particular implications for empirically keyed assessments, multigroup contrasts, the cross-cultural expression of individual differences, and the generalizability of trait definitions across cultures.