The cross-country and cross-time measurement invariance of positive and negative affect scales: Evidence from European Social Survey

This study applies both the traditional exact and the more recent Bayesian approximate approach to assess whether the affect scales are measurement invariant. The approximate approach detected several non-invariant items that are problematic for cross-national comparison and should be dropped from the scales. Consequently, measurement invariance was established in all countries over the two rounds for the reduced scales, allowing researchers to meaningfully compare their latent mean scores and the relationships with other theoretical constructs of interest. Thus, the study highlights the advantages of using multiple indicators and the necessity of measurement invariance testing in subjective well-being research.

Source: Social Science Research - October 14, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research