Gender and Ethnicity-Based Differential Item Functioning on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

View/ Open
Downloads: 272
Downloads: 207
Downloads: 190
Date
1997-07-05Author
Gratias, Melissa B.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Item Response Theory (IRT) methodologies were
employed in order to examine the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI) for differential item functioning (DIF) on
the basis of crossed gender and ethnicity variables. White
males were the reference group, and the focal groups
were: black females, black males, and white females. The
MBTI was predicted to show DIF in all comparisons. In
particular, DIF on the Thinking-Feeling scale was
hypothesized especially in the comparisons between white
males and black females and between white males and
white females. A sample of 10,775 managers who took
the MBTI at assessment centers provided the data for the
present experiment. The Mantel-Haenszel procedure and
an IRT-based area technique were the methods of
DIF-detection.
Results showed several biased items on all scales for all
comparisons. Ethnicity-based bias was seen in the white
male vs. black female and white male vs. black male
comparisons. Gender-based bias was seen particularly in
the white male vs. white female comparisons.
Consequently, the Thinking-Feeling showed the least DIF
of all scales across comparisons, and only one of the items
differentially scored by gender was found to be biased.
Findings indicate that the gender-based differential scoring
system is not defensible in managerial samples, and there is
a need for further research into the study of differential
item functioning with regards to ethnicity.
Collections
- Doctoral Dissertations [13016]