Measurement equivalence of the Job Descriptive Index across Chinese and American workers: Results from confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory

Despite increased awareness of practical issues in multinational data collection, few studies have addressed the issue of measurement equivalence across Western and Eastern cultures, especially using measures of job attitudes. Therefore, the measurement equivalence of the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was examined across 2,638 Chinese workers and 1,664 American workers. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and item response theory were used to ensure a comprehensive test of measurement equivalence at the facet level. A cross-sample validation procedure was also used with the CFA approach to increase the generalizability of the findings. The measurement equivalence of the JDI was established using both approaches. For human resource management practitioners, this study provides psychometric justification for direct comparisons of job satisfaction scores across Chinese and American employees of multinational companies.