COMPARABILITY OF PERSONALITY TEST-SCORES FOR IMMIGRANTS AND MAJORITY GROUP MEMBERS - SOME DUTCH FINDINGS

The questions addressed are whether a taxonomy with the dimensions Neu roticism and Extraversion can be generalized to immigrant groups in th e Netherlands, and whether scores on an Eysenck-style personality ques tionnaire, the ABV (Amsterdam Biographical Questionnaire), can be used for assessment within these groups. Use was made of test data on firs t-generation immigrants (N=1302) and majority group members (N=796). T he scales appear to measure the same constructs in the various groups and the majority of the items do not show differential item functionin g, therefore the taxonomy can be generalized to immigrant populations and the questionnaire can be put to good use for comparisons within cu lturally homogeneous groups of non-native born, non-native language im migrants. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.