Investigating measurement invariance in the South African Personality Inventory: English version

We are interested in the psychometric properties of the South African Personality Inventory, a personality measure developed to apply equally to speakers of all official languages in South Africa, by testing for measurement invariance across the four ethnocultural groups in South Africa. We conducted an exploratory structural equation modelling analysis to eliminate any restrictions on the variables and to allow them to covary. While measurement invariance was found on configural and metric levels, scalar invariance was not found. The results advance the aim of the South African Personality Inventory to comply with stipulations in South Africa’s Employment Equity Act regarding fair and unbiased assessments.

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Validating Indigenous Versions of the South African Personality Inventory

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.556565 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Carin Hill ◽

Mpho Hlahleni ◽

Lebogang Legodi

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Ethnic Group ◽

South African ◽

Factor Structure ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Factor Model ◽

Emotional Stability ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

The South ◽

Official Languages

Personality assessments are frequently used to make decisions and predictions, creating a demand for assessments that are non-discriminatory. South African legislation requires psychological tests to be scientifically proven to be valid, reliable, fair and non-biased. In response to the necessity for a measure sensitive to indigenous differences, South African and Dutch researchers developed the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI). The SAPI represents a theoretical model of personality that uses an indigenous (emic) and universal (etic) approach to capture South Africa’s rich multicultural and multilingual view of personhood. The development of SAPI items and its simultaneous translation from English into all official languages necessitated the investigation of all the translated language versions’ psychometric properties. This study used Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling to examine the factor structure and model fit of two indigenous language versions of the SAPI, targeting the Tshivenda and the Southern Sotho languages. To accomplish this objective, Study 1 (N = 290) was done in South Africa among the Tshivenda ethnic group, while Study 2 (N = 293) was conducted in South Africa among the Sesotho ethnic group. An acquiescence response pattern was noticed in both studies, possibly to adhere to group consensus and emphasizing harmony within relationships. The ESEM solutions generated an excellent fit for both language versions, and most facets loaded acceptably on their expected factors. The Neuroticism factor proved to be problematic in both language versions. Within the Tshivenda version, the Emotional Stability facet did not generate adequate loadings on any SAPI factors. In contrast, neither Emotional Stability nor Negative Emotionality loaded sufficiently on the Neuroticism factor for the Southern Sotho version. While the overall fit of the six-factor model was excellent, the language in which a person completes a personality questionnaire seems to influence such an assessment’s factor structure. The Tshivenda and Sesotho versions of the SAPI cannot yet be positioned as equitable alternatives when using an indigenous version of the SAPI is needed. The implications of the results and proposals for future studies are discussed.

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Validation and measurement invariance of the Occupational Depression Inventory in South Africa

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0261271 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (12) ◽

pp. e0261271

Author(s):

Carin Hill ◽

Leon T. de Beer ◽

Renzo Bianchi

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Measurement Invariance ◽

South African ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Age Groups ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Modeling Analysis ◽

African Context

This study aimed to validate the recently developed Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) in South Africa. A total of 327 employees (60% female) participated in the study. Bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling analysis indicated that the ODI can be considered essentially unidimensional. The ODI displayed strong scalability (e.g., scale-level H = 0.657). No monotonicity violation was detected. The reliability of the instrument, as indexed by Cronbach’s alpha, McDonald’s omega-total, Guttman’s λ2, and the Molenaar-Sijtsma statistic, was highly satisfactory. Measurement invariance was observed across age groups, sexes, and ethnicities, as well as between our sample and the ODI’s original validation sample. As expected, the ODI showed both a degree of convergent validity and a degree of discriminant validity vis-à-vis a measure of “cause-neutral” depressive symptoms. Moreover, the ODI manifested substantial associations, in the anticipated directions, with measures of work engagement, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction. Overall, the ODI exhibited excellent structural and psychometric properties within the South African context. Consistent with previous research, this study suggests that occupational health specialists can confidently rely on the ODI to investigate job-related distress.

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Investigating the factor structure of the South African Personality Inventory – English version

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ◽

10.4102/sajip.v45i0.1556 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

Author(s):

Nadia Morton ◽

Carin Hill ◽

Deon Meiring ◽

Leon T. De Beer

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Personality Assessment ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

Measuring Instruments ◽

English Version ◽

The South ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Managerial Implication

Orientation: Most psychological measuring instruments developed in Western, educated, industrial, rich, democratic (W.E.I.R.D.) countries have been found to inadequately capture and represent personality outside the borders of these countries. Consequently, culturally informed or indigenous measuring instruments need to be developed.Research purpose: This study aimed to inspect whether an overlap exists between the empirical data obtained and the theoretical six-factor SAPI framework, providing evidence for an indigenous personality structure in a multi-cultural context.Motivation for the study: Psychological professionals in South Africa have been criticised for using culturally biased instruments that do not display an accurate representation of the 11 official cultural groups. The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) aims to address these criticisms, highlighting the importance of establishing the cultural applicability of the model through model-fit analyses.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used to administer the SAPI-English version to a sample of employed, unemployed and employment-seeking South Africans (N = 3912). Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) was used to model the data.Main findings: The results revealed that the model was a good fit to the data and that the SAPI factors accurately represent personality in a multi-cultural context.Practical/managerial implication: Using a well-researched indigenous personality assessment like the SAPI can assist South African organisations to fairly and reliably assess people across the 11 official cultural groups.Contribution/value-add: This study advances the processes surrounding indigenous test development through the establishment of a personality model and measure that encapsulates personality traits exhibited in a multi-cultural context.

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Developing and testing items for the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI)

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ◽

10.4102/sajip.v39i1.1122 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Carin Hill ◽

Jan Alewyn Nel ◽

Fons J.R. Van de Vijver ◽

Deon Meiring ◽

Velichko H. Valchev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Personality Assessment ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Poor Performance ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

The South ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Managerial Implications

Orientation: A multicultural country like South Africa needs fair cross-cultural psychometric instruments.Research purpose: This article reports on the process of identifying items for, and provides a quantitative evaluation of, the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI) items.Motivation for the study: The study intended to develop an indigenous and psychometrically sound personality instrument that adheres to the requirements of South African legislation and excludes cultural bias.Research design, approach and method: The authors used a cross-sectional design. They measured the nine SAPI clusters identified in the qualitative stage of the SAPI project in 11 separate quantitative studies. Convenience sampling yielded 6735 participants. Statistical analysis focused on the construct validity and reliability of items. The authors eliminated items that showed poor performance, based on common psychometric criteria, and selected the best performing items to form part of the final version of the SAPI.Main findings: The authors developed 2573 items from the nine SAPI clusters. Of these, 2268 items were valid and reliable representations of the SAPI facets.Practical/managerial implications: The authors developed a large item pool. It measures personality in South Africa. Researchers can refine it for the SAPI. Furthermore, the project illustrates an approach that researchers can use in projects that aim to develop culturally-informed psychological measures.Contribution/value-add: Personality assessment is important for recruiting, selecting and developing employees. This study contributes to the current knowledge about the early processes researchers follow when they develop a personality instrument that measures personality fairly in different cultural groups, as the SAPI does.

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Exploring the factor structure of the Passion Scale: Are the dualistic types of passion relevant for workers in the South African context?

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ◽

10.4102/sajip.v46i0.1788 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 46 ◽

Author(s):

Marais S. Bester ◽

Melinde Coetzee ◽

Xander Van Lill

Keyword(s):

Measurement Invariance ◽

South African ◽

Factor Structure ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Well Being ◽

The South ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Psychological Attributes ◽

And Gender ◽

Gender Groups

Orientation: It is not clear from research whether the dualistic model holds true across binary ethnic and gender groups in the South African organisational context.Research purpose: The present research aimed to test the validity and reliability of the two-factor Passion Scale and to assess for measurement invariance of the two-factor scale across binary ethnic and gender groups in the South African context.Motivation of the study: The construct of passion helps to better understand some of the psychological attributes that contribute to experiences of either well-being or strain at work and is therefore an important attribute to measure.Research approach, design and method: The study involved a convenience sample (N = 550) of managerial and staff-level South African employees from various industries with a mean age of 34 years (SD = 10.95). Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modelling, t-tests and tests for measurement invariance were performed.Main findings: The results confirmed the validity and measurement invariance of the two-factor structure of the Passion Scale in the South African work context. The observed differences between the ethnic groups and men and women were practically small.Practical/managerial implications: Well-being interventions should consider the use of the Passion Scale as a measure of the psychological attributes that explain differentiating experiences of harmonious and obsessive passion in the workplace.Contribution/value-add: The findings provided encouraging evidence for the relevance and usefulness of the Passion Scale’s dualistic model of passion for people of different binary ethnic and gender groups in South African organisations.

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The validation of a diversity climate measurement instrument for the South African environment

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology ◽

10.4102/sajip.v47i0.1830 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

Author(s):

Sean McCallaghan ◽

Marita Heyns

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Measurement Invariance ◽

South African ◽

Diversity Management ◽

Assessment Instrument ◽

Measuring Instrument ◽

Diversity Climate ◽

The South ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Convenience Sample

Orientation: South Africa had a distinctive diversity environment with unique diversity-related challenges. Researchers and practitioners required a validated diversity climate instrument that can be used to examine diversity management observations in a South African setting.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to address a research opportunity to source, test and validate a diversity climate instrument for the South African environment.Motivation for the study: Studies examining the conceptualisation, validation and measurement invariance of a diversity climate instrument for the South African environment do not yet exist.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative approach with cross-sectional design was utilised. A total of 323 respondents from a convenience sample formed part of this study. Statistical analysis included reliability, validity and measurement invariance computations.Main findings: An applicable one-dimensional diversity climate assessment instrument was identified from literature. This study found evidence indicating that the instrument was reliable and valid across white and African population groups.Practical/managerial implications: The assessment of diversity climate will be an accurate indication on how well an organisation is managing diversity. A validated measuring instrument will be a valuable managerial tool for any South African organisation, which can assist with future decision making.Contribution/value-add: This study was able to source and validate a diversity climate measuring instrument for a unique diversity setting, such as South Africa.

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HCI in South Africa

Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-562-7.ch041 ◽

2006 ◽

pp. 261-265

Author(s):

Shawren Singh

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Language Use ◽

Mother Tongue ◽

National Level ◽

International Energy Agency ◽

The South ◽

Energy Agency ◽

National Leaders ◽

Official Languages

South Africa is a multi-lingual country with a population of about 40.5 million people. South Africa has more official languages at a national level than any other country in the world. Over and above English and Afrikaans, the eleven official languages include the indigenous languages: Southern Sotho, Northern Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Ndebele, Tsonga, and Venda (Pretorius & Bosch, 2003). Figure 1 depicts the breakdown of the South African official languages as mother tongues for South African citizens. Although English ranks fifth (9%) as a mother tongue, there is a tendency among national leaders, politicians, business people, and officials to use English more frequently than any of the other languages. In a national survey on language use and language interaction conducted by the Pan South African Language Board (Language Use and Board Interaction in South Africa, 2000), only 22% of the respondents indicated that they fully understand speeches and statements made in English, while 19% indicated that they seldom understand information conveyed in English. The rate of electrification in South African is 66.1%. The total number of people with access to electricity is 28.3 million, and the total number of people without access to electricity is 14.5 million (International Energy Agency, 2002). Although the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” is narrowing, a significant portion of the South African population is still without the basic amenities of life. This unique environment sets the tone for a creative research agenda for HCI researchers and practitioners in South Africa.

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The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI): A culture-informed instrument for the country’s main ethnocultural groups.

Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1037/pas0000078 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 827-837 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Velichko H. Fetvadjiev ◽

Deon Meiring ◽

Fons J. R. van de Vijver ◽

J. Alewyn Nel ◽

Carin Hill

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Personality Inventory ◽

The South ◽

Ethnocultural Groups

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Consumer-centric factors for the implementation of smart meters in South Africa

South African Computer Journal ◽

10.18489/sacj.v33i2.909 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Tonderai Muchenje ◽

Reinhardt Botha

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Technology Acceptance ◽

South African ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Perceived Usefulness ◽

Smart Meter ◽

The South ◽

Smart Meters ◽

Pervasive Technology

Smart meter implementation is still in its infancy in many African countries, including South Africa. This is evident from the fact that most research studies are either Eurocentric or American-centric. Hence, this research aimed to identify consumer-centric factors for planning considerations in implementation of smart meters in South Africa. We used various behavioural theoretical models found in literature to identify potential factors relevant to this study. Based on quantitatively gathered data (n = 705), a structural equation model (SEM) was used to evaluate the identified factors. This study found that only ten consumer-centric factors were significant to smart meter consumers. These factors include behavioural intention, attitude, trust in technology, social norms, facilitating conditions, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, privacy risk, monetary cost, and perceived value. In conclusion, the study shows that not all factors suggested within the European and American context are relevant for smart meter implementation within the South African context. Hence, results of this study hold some practical implications in assisting utility companies in identifying consumer-centric factors that are relevant to the South African population. Finally, consumer-centric factors can be used by policy makers and energy regulators as baseline factors for future pervasive technology acceptance studies.

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Foreigners' Rights to Work and Fair Labour Practices in South Africa: A Review of the South African Labour Legislation and Jurisprudence

Southern African Public Law ◽

10.25159/2522-6800/5093 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Andre Mangu

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Human Rights ◽

South African ◽

Bill Of Rights ◽

The South ◽

Legislation And Jurisprudence ◽

Foreign Nationals ◽

Lay Persons ◽

Democratic State ◽

Labour Legislation

After several decades of apartheid rule, which denied human rights to the majority of the population on the ground of race and came to be regarded as a crime against humanity, South Africa adopted its first democratic Constitution in the early 1990s. The 1996 Constitution, which succeeded the 1993 interim Constitution, is considered one of the most progressive in the world. In its founding provisions, it states that South Africa is a democratic state founded on human dignity, the achievement of equality, the advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Constitution enshrines fundamental human rights in a justiciable Bill of Rights as a cornerstone of democracy. Unfortunately, in the eyes of a number of politicians, officials and lay-persons, the rights in the Bill of Rights accrue to South African citizens only. Xenophobia, which has been rampant since the end of apartheid, seems to support the idea that foreigners should not enjoy these rights. Foreign nationals have often been accused of posing a threat to South African citizens with regard to employment opportunities. In light of the South African legislation and jurisprudence, this article affirms the position of the South African labour law that foreign nationals are indeed protected by the Constitution and entitled to rights in the Bill of Rights, including the rights to work and fair labour practices.

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