Measurement equivalence in the conduct of a global organizational survey across countries in six cultural regions

This study examined the measurement equivalence of a global organizational survey measuring six work climate factors as administered across 25 countries (N = 31,315) in all regions of the world (West Europe, East Europe, North America, Latin America, South America, Middle East, Africa and Asia‐Pacific). Across all countries, the survey instrument exhibited ‘form equivalence’ and ‘metric equivalence’, suggesting that respondents completed the survey using the same frame‐of‐reference and interpreted the rating scale intervals similarly. Schwartz's (1994, 1999, 2004) cultural value theory was then used for grouping the countries in cultural regions, and to anticipate measurement equivalence of the data from the survey within and between these regions. Results showed partial support for Schwartz's theory. The English‐speaking region was the only region where empirical evidence for ‘scalar equivalence’ was found. No support was found for the prediction that measurement equivalence would be higher among countries that are part of cultural regions with a small cultural distance than among countries that are part of cultural regions with a large cultural distance. However, the use of a common language in a particular cultural region reduced the bias present in the cross‐country comparison within that region.     

EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SURVEYS IN A MULTINATIONAL ORGANIZATION: CONSIDERING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN ASSESSING MEASUREMENT EQUIVALENCE

The cross-cultural equivalence of a multinational employee opinion survey was examined using multiple-groups covariance structure analysis to examine 4 scales in 4 countries. Cultural and linguistic influences were considered by assessing equivalence across 2 pairs of countries having the same language but different cultures (U.S. and Australia, Mexico and Spain) and across countries differing in culture and language (U.S. and Mexico). The measure was equivalent across U.S. and Australian samples only. Analyses indicated items that were the source of lack of invariance. One cause explored was translation problems. Practical issues in assessing measurement equivalence in employee opinion surveys are discussed.     

Fit Happens Globally: A Meta‐Analytic Comparison of the Relationships of Person–Environment Fit Dimensions with Work Attitudes and Performance Across East Asia,Europe, and North America

In this cross‐cultural meta‐analysis, we examine the relationships between person–environment [P–E] fit and work attitudes (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to quit) as well as job performance based on 96 studies (110 independent samples) conducted in East Asia, Europe, and North America. We compare the results across cultures while focusing on 4 dimensions of P–E fit (person‐job fit, person–organization fit, person–group fit, and person–supervisor fit) separately and jointly. Findings suggest that the effects of rational fit (person–organization and person–job fit) are (relatively) stronger in North America and, to a lesser extent, Europe than in East Asia. However, the effects of relational fit (person–group and person–supervisor fit) are (relatively) stronger in East Asia than in North America. This highlights that in collectivistic and high power distance (vs. individualistic and low power distance) cultures, relational (vs. rational) fit is more salient in influencing employees’ perceptions about their work environments. Results are less clear concerning job performance. What is common across cultures is that, regardless of which dimension of P–E fit is being considered, fit happens and high levels of fit lead to positive outcomes, confirming the universal relevance of fit phenomenon.     

The Effects of Hardiness and Cultural Distance on Sociocultural Adaptation in an Expatriate Sales Manager Population

International corporations are increasingly concerned about expatriate executive attrition. There is an urgent need to develop methods for identifying the antecedents to successful expatriate performance. In choosing sales managers for international assignments, special attention should be paid to the candidate’s psychological hardiness and cultural distance between the home and host countries. An empirical study was conducted based on 544 responses from expatriate sales managers originating from 62 countries who are serving in 77 different countries around the globe. Using hierarchical regression, the authors tested main effects of both cultural distance and psychological hardiness on the sales manager’s ability to adapt to a new cultural environment. In addition, psychological hardiness was tested as a moderator of the relationship between cultural distance and sociocultural adaptation. Results suggest that practitioners now include both scales as determinants for justification when selecting expatriate sales assignments. Practically speaking, with both global cultural distance and hardiness scores in hand, companies can better select appropriate personnel who will be able to cope with cultural differences in international placements. Finally, this research provides the first known scholarly study of psychological hardiness in the marketing and sales literature.     

Effect sizes and cut-off points: a meta-analytical review of burnout in latin American countries

Burnout is a highly prevalent globalized health issue that causes significant physical and psychological health problems. In Latin America research on this topic has increased in recent years, however there are no studies comparing results across countries, nor normative reference cut-offs. The present meta-analysis examines the intensity of burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism and personal accomplishment) in 58 adult nonclinical samples from 8 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela). We found low intensity of burnout but there are significant differences between countries in emotional exhaustion explained by occupation and language. Social and human service professionals (police officers, social workers, public administration staff) are more exhausted than health professionals (physicians, nurses) or teachers. The samples with Portuguese language score higher in emotional exhaustion than Spanish, supporting the theory of cultural relativism. Demographics (sex, age) and study variables (sample size, instrument), were not found significant to predict burnout. The effect size and confidence intervals found are proposed as a useful baseline for research and medical diagnosis of burnout in Latin American countries.     

Measurement Invariance of the Day Reconstruction Method: Results from the COURAGE in Europe Project

Given the growing interest in the study of subjective well-being as a measure of social progress, instruments that produce valid and reliable scores and that can be used within and across countries are needed. The aim of the present study was to analyze the measurement equivalence of the Day Reconstruction Method in its brief version, using nationally representative samples from Finland, Poland, and Spain obtained within the COURAGE in Europe project. The goodness-of-fit of a two-correlated-factors model and the reliability of the scores obtained were assessed. Cross-country invariance was tested employing a multiple group confirmatory factor analysis, through sequential constraint imposition. In each country, measurement invariance was tested across time frames (morning, afternoon and evening) and days of the week (weekday and weekend). The results found support for the hypothesis of a two-correlated-factors (positive and negative affect) structure; the reliability of the positive, the negative and the net affect scores showed appropriate values. A high equivalence across the three national samples was found: all items except one showed strong measurement invariance indicating that respondents from Finland, Poland, and Spain attribute the same meaning to the latent construct under study, and the levels of the underlying items are equal in all three countries. Similar results were found for the measurement equivalence across time frames and days of the week. Our findings support the assumption of comparability across the different samples considered; in general, higher positive affect and lower negative affect were found in Finland, in the evening and at the weekend.     

Assessing relationship quality across cultures: An examination of measurement equivalence

Researchers are increasingly studying close relationships across cultural contexts. One issue that arises when applying scales originally developed in Western countries to a different cultural context is measurement invariance. Researchers often do not examine whether scales show invariance across cultures and thus can be used with confidence. The goal of this article is to discuss the importance of measurement invariance, to discuss what testing invariance involves, and to test the measurement properties of scales of relationship satisfaction, commitment, intimacy, and trust across 4 samples (United States, Canada, Indonesia, and China). Analyses indicated that weak measurement invariance was met for all 4 scales, and assumptions of strong measurement invariance had to be relaxed for only a few items in each scale. Findings are discussed and recommendations are made regarding using these or other scales that have been shown to meet assumptions of invariance across different cultural groups.     

The Protestant Reformation and Social Justice in Latin America

The political effects of the 16th‐century religious reformations have never been in doubt. What is debatable, however, is how these effects have been felt in different contexts. In what is now Latin America, their influence was kept at a distance to avoid the changes in Europe from taking place on the other side of the Atlantic. This article examines Latin American writers to demonstrate how, in the different cultural and geographical contexts of the sub‐continent, the social and political imprint of the Reformation and its emancipating and libertarian emphasis has been perceived.     

Language Measurement Equivalence of the Ethnic Identity Scale With Mexican American Early Adolescents

The current study considers methodological challenges in developmental research with linguistically diverse samples of young adolescents. By empirically examining the cross-language measurement equivalence of a measure assessing three components of ethnic identity development (i.e., exploration, resolution, and affirmation) among Mexican American adolescents, the study both assesses the cross-language measurement equivalence of a common measure of ethnic identity and provides an appropriate conceptual and analytical model for researchers needing to evaluate measurement scales translated into multiple languages. Participants are 678 Mexican-origin early adolescents and their mothers. Measures of exploration and resolution achieve the highest levels of equivalence across language versions. The measure of affirmation achieves high levels of equivalence. Results highlight potential ways to correct for any problems of nonequivalence across language versions of the affirmation measure. Suggestions are made for how researchers working with linguistically diverse samples can use the highlighted techniques to evaluate their own translated measures.     

Relationship of IQ to suicide and homicide rate: an international perspective

IQs were correlated with the z score of suicide rate minus z score of homicide rate using nine regions of the world--established market economies, formerly socialized Europe, India, China, other Asian nations, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Middle East Crescent, and the USA. Correlations were .85 and .83 with crude rates and age-adjusted rates, respectively. The homicide findings are consistent with previous research in individual countries showing that less intelligent persons commit homicide more often. However, the present findings of a positive correlation between IQ and suicide rates are the opposite of what has been found in the more definitive studies within countries. Explanations for the apparent paradox and for the findings more generally were offered.     

Anti-Semitism the World Over in the Twenty-first Century

The article reports the numbers and types of anti-Semitic incidents, attacks, media reports, and public opinion against Jews in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Western and Eastern European countries, the Middle East, and Australia. It also reports responses to these actions by police and local and national government officials. The period for which the data are reported is from 2000 to mid-2007. For each country, the size of the Jewish community is reported. What is manifestly clear from the data presented is that anti-Semitism is on the rise in most countries of the world. The data show a dramatic increase in anti-Semitism in Western Europe notably, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, and The Netherlands. Of those countries, France has the worse record.     

Understanding the Labour Market Participation of Skilled Immigrant Women in Switzerland: The Interplay of Class, Ethnicity, and Gender

Switzerland has recently adopted immigration policies that give preference to skilled migrants, the assumption being that migrants with higher education will integrate easily. Our study of 57 skilled immigrant women from Latin America, the Middle East and Southeastern Europe shows that this assumption is largely unjustified. Most of the women cannot use their social and cultural capital to establish themselves in the upper segments of the labour market. A third are not integrated in the labour market and a quarter occupy positions below their skill-level. A further third work at their skill-level but only irregularly. The differentiated participation of these immigrants in the labour market is well explained by analysing the interplay of class, ethnicity and gender.     

Perceived cultural distance and acculturation among exchange students in Russia

The relations of perceived cultural distance, personality, acculturation orientations and outcomes were studied among exchange students (N = 187) in Russia who came from various countries in Asia, sub‐Saharan Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet Union. The hypothesis was supported that a larger perceived cultural distance between mainstream and immigrant culture is associated with less psychological (homesickness and stress) and sociocultural (behaviour with Russian students and behaviour with co‐nationals) adjustment. The statistical relations between perceived cultural distance, personality and sociocultural adjustment were much stronger for host domain behaviour than for home domain behaviour. Adjustment was higher for participants with more cultural empathy, openmindedness and flexibility. Adjustment showed statistically stronger associations with cultural distance than with acculturation orientations. It is concluded that cultural distance may be more salient than acculturation orientations in studies of heterogeneous groups of immigrants. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The European annuals of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis: the benefits of linguistic diversity

This paper presents the Annuals of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, which have been published in Europe since 2003, successively in French, Italian, German, Turkish and Russian. Like the Annuals published since 1985 in Latin America, these are designed to give non-Anglophone readers access to a selection of leading psychoanalytic articles. Each European Annual makes its own selection so the content varies from one Annual to another. Psychoanalysts on the various editorial committees translate the texts from English into their native target language on a voluntary basis. Beyond the geographical and cultural criteria, the desire to translate and the enjoyment of translating are among the key criteria. The Annual editors consider it important that the English language should continue to exist as a psychoanalytic lingua franca, without actually becoming its universal language, so that the richness and diversity of the psychoanalytic languages and terminologies can be preserved. The European Annuals in French, Italian, German, Turkish and Russian, with their linguistic and cultural characteristics, are then presented in turn.     

Test of the cross-cultural generalizability of a model of sexual harassment

Sexual harassment research has been primarily limited to examination of the phenomena in U.S. organizations; attempts to explore the generalizability of constructs and theoretical models across cultures are rare. This study examined (a) the measurement equivalence of survey scales in U.S. and Turkish samples using mean and covariance structure analysis and (b) the generalizability of the L. F. Fitzgerald, F. Drasgow, C. L. Hulin, M. J. Gelfand, and V. J. Magley (1997) model of sexual harassment to the Turkish context using structural equations modeling. Analyses used questionnaire data from 336 Turkish women and 455 women from the United States. The results indicate that, in general, the survey scales demonstrate measurement equivalence and the pattern of relationships in the Fitzgerald et al. model generalizes to the Turkish culture. These results support the usefulness of the model for explaining sexual harassment experiences in a variety of organizational and cultural contexts.     

CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN RELATIONSHIPS OF WORK DEMANDS, JOB SATISFACTION, AND TURNOVER INTENTIONS WITH WORK–FAMILY CONFLICT

A study of work interference with family (WIF) among managers is described, contrasting four clusters of countries, one of which is individualistic (Anglo) and three of which are collectivistic (Asia, East Europe, and Latin America). Country cluster (Anglo vs. each of the others) moderated the relation of work demands with strain-based WIF, with the Anglo country cluster having the strongest relationships. Country cluster moderated some of the relationships of strain-based WIF with both job satisfaction and turnover intentions, with Anglos showing the strongest relationships. Cluster differences in domestic help were ruled out as the possible explanation for these moderator results.     

Cultural Values and Volunteering: A Cross-cultural Comparison of Students�� Motivation to Volunteer in 13 Countries

Voluntary participation is connected to cultural, political, religious and social contexts. Social and societal factors can provide opportunities, expectations and requirements for voluntary activity, as well as influence the values and norms promoting this. These contexts are especially central in the case of voluntary participation among students as they are often responding to the societal demands for building a career and qualifying for future assignments and/or government requirements for completing community service. This article questions how cultural values affect attitudes towards volunteerism, using data from an empirical research project on student volunteering activity in 13 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region. The findings indicate that there are differences in motivation between countries which represent different cultural values. This article sets these findings in context by comparing structural and cultural factors which may influence volunteerism within each country.     

Globally surveying in English: Investigation of the measurement equivalence of a job satisfaction measure across bilingual and native English speakers

The present research investigated measurement equivalence of organizational attitude surveys across bilingual and native English respondents. Results largely supported the equivalence of the measure of job satisfaction when administered in English to bilingual and native English‐speaking respondents.     

Measurement Invariance of the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale Scores: Does the Measurement Structure Hold across Far Eastern and European Countries?

In recent years, emotional intelligence and emotional intelligence measures have been used in a plethora of countries and cultures. This is also the case for the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS), highlighting the importance of examining whether the WLEIS is invariant across regions other than the Far Eastern region (China) where it was originally developed. This study investigated the measurement invariance (MI) of the WLEIS scores across two countries, namely Singapore (N= 505) and Belgium (N= 339). Apart from items measuring the factor “use of emotion”, the measurement structure underlying the WLEIS ratings was generally invariant across both countries as there was no departure from MI in terms of factor form and factor loadings. The scalar invariance model (imposing an identical threshold structure) was partially supported. Factor intercorrelations (not involving the factor “use of emotion”) were also identical across countries. These results show promise for the invariance of the WLEIS scores across different countries, yet warn of the non‐invariance of the dimension “use of emotion”. Reducing the motivation‐oriented nature of these items is in order to come to an exact model fit in cross‐cultural comparisons.