Measurement Invariance of the Tilburg Work Identity Scale for Commitment and Reconsideration of Commitment (TWIS-CRC) in Romania, England, the Netherlands, and South Africa

Abstract

Work plays a central role in people’s lives and their self-concepts. It was our objective in this article to a) explore the factor structure of a newly-developed measure of work identity, the Tilburg Work Identity Scale of Commitment and Reconsideration of Commitment (TWIS-CRC) in a Romanian employee sample, and b) examine whether the measure is invariant at configural, metric, and scalar levels across Romanian, English, Dutch, and South African (Black and White) employees. The theoretically assumed two-factor structure was supported through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in the first study, with one item (item 10) loading moderately on both subscales. We found similar results in the preliminary EFA, confirming the removal of item 10. The Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicated that the measure was fully invariant at the configural level and partially invariant at the metric level across the employee samples. However, no scalar invariance was found. This indicates that the TWIS-CRC as a construct is similar across groups, as are the factor loadings, whereas item intercepts are not. Across employee samples, it is therefore possible to establish how work identity as measured by the TWIS-CRC correlates with other measures such as work engagement and burnout, while we are unable to compare means across groups due to a lack of scalar invariance. Work Identity as measured by the TWIS-CRC is useful for researchers and organizational practitioners who aim to understand the importance of work identity for work motivation and engagement.