Item Response Analysis, Invariance, and Validation of the Multicultural Personality Inventory

Abstract

In a global community with increased immigration and rising sociocultural tensions, there is a need for psychometrically strong instruments that assess adjustment to increasingly culturally heterogeneous environments. The Multicultural Personality Inventory (MPI) is one such instrument, but previous studies have not reported the instrument’s invariance or item-level responses. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the MPI using item response theory, invariance analysis, and structural equation modeling with a sample of 1,194 participants. We found evidence for a 34-item instrument with a bifactor internal structure that demonstrated partial invariance across gender, race, and generational status. Evidence of concurrent and incremental validity of the MPI was established through predicted associations with acculturation, satisfaction with life, social dominance orientation, mental health, color-blind racial attitudes, and self-reported high school grade-point average, beyond any variance accounted for by Big Five variables.