The Questionable Value of Cross-Cultural Comparisons with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

Abstract

It is argued that the impressively high factor congruence coefficients observed in cross-cultural studies with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire cannot be taken as sufficient evidence for the "similarity" or "essential identity" of these factors in the cultures concerned. Arguments presented by Eysenck (1986) to challenge this viewpoint are refuted. The conclusion by Bijnen, Van der Net, and Poortinga (1986) that cross-cultural comparisons of factor scores on the EPQ are likely to be affected by cultural bias is upheld.