Abstract
The promulgation of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, Section 8, placed a spotlight on the cultural suitability of psychological tests and their usage in South Africa. It has become essential to create psychological measures that are sensitive to ethnic differences in order to adhere to the legislative requirements of the Employment Equity Act. This study investigated the factor structure and construct validity of the South African Personality Inventory, Tshivenda version (SAPI-V) and also explored the language assessment ease and preference of the personality measure. A quantitative cross-sectional design was used. A hard copy version of the SAPI-V was administered to 290 Tshivenda speaking participants in South Africa. The SAPI-V confirmed construct validity with the Social Desirability scale, and the Basic Five Inventory (BFI-10), and produced a six-factor model that indicated a good fit. However, the ESEM parameter and reliability coefficient analyses showed that the SAPI-V is not yet feasible at this stage and a more detailed analysis on item level is needed. The results should assist in developing a scale to assess the personality structure of one of South Africa’s language groups. The study provided evidence that it may be beneficial for assessment practitioners to allow individuals to take personality assessments in their home language.
M.Com. (Industrial Psychology)