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Original Article

Measurement Invariance in Translations of the VIA Inventory of Strengths

Published Online:May 21, 2015https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000248

Abstract

Abstract. The VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) has been an influential contribution to the study of prosocial traits, and provided the basis for the VIA Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS). Inherent to the Classification is the assumption that the character strengths included in the model are cross-culturally relevant. The emergence of a latent trait model for the VIA Classification from exploratory factor analytic research and the availability of data from translated versions of the VIA-IS provides a basis for evaluating this assumption. A sample of 15,540 individuals from 16 nations who completed the VIA-IS online was used to evaluate measurement equivalence. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and a relatively new statistical procedure, alignment analysis, were used to evaluate configural, metric, and scalar invariance across translations of the instrument. Consistent support was found for configural and metric invariance, and scalar invariance was also demonstrated under a number of circumstances. The findings lend support to the cross-cultural relevance of the VIA Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues as well as to existing translations of the VIA-IS.

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