THE ACCEPTABILITY OF A WESTERN PSYCHOMETRIC INSTRUMENT IN A NONWESTERN SOCIETY

Cross-cultural investigations of psychometric instruments generally fo cus on their intrinsic features, such as validity and reliability, but little attention has been given to the face validity, or acceptabilit y, of such instruments to those who will be assessed by them. Thirty-o ne Malawian managers completed the Managerial and Professional Profile r (MAPP), a British personality questionnaire developed for use in occ upational settings, and gave their evaluation of it, using a Questionn aire Rating Form. Although individuals indicated personal preferences, group means were generally equivocal regarding interest in and enjoym ent of the questionnaire and regarding the relevance of the MAPP to th eir work and professional development. Although the questions were eas ily understood, they were not all rated as being relevant to the Malaw ian culture. Suggestions for improvements included shortening, removin g repetition, and translating into vernacular English and indigenous l anguages. The results emphasize the importance of investigating the fa ce validity of questionnaires, especially those that are to be used cr oss-culturally.