Structural validity and measurement invariance of the short version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10) in selected countries

Abstract

We sought to determine the applicability and structural equivalence of a personality instrument developed in western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) contexts in non-WEIRD environments. The data for this study came from interviews conducted during the sixth wave of the World Values Survey in the Netherlands (N = 1902), Germany (N = 2046), Rwanda (N = 1527), and South Africa (N = 3531). We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to assess structural validity and measurement invariance. The findings from the Big Five Inventory 10 (BFI-10) instrument did not support a perfect five-factor model as theorised by the Big Five Personality model across all countries, even though Germany and the Netherlands obtained better As a result, the findings do not support structural validity and do not demonstrate measurement invariance between WEIRD and non-WEIRD countries. The findings indicate that while the concise BFI-10 instrument partially replicates the structure of the B5P model in WEIRD countries, it falls short in non-WEIRD countries. Users of the instrument should therefore proceed with caution in both WEIRD and non-WEIRD contexts, bearing in mind the instrument’s structural flaws.