Measurement Equivalence of Ethnic Identity across Four Ethnic Groups

Ethnic identity concerns one’s identification with a group having similar cultural values, language, and traditions. The conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity has varied greatly since 1970, when it first gained attention in research. In response to psychometric issues and limited generalizability of existing ethnic identity measures, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure was developed (Phinney, 1992) and then revised as the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised (MEIM-R; Phinney & Ong, 2007). Despite the common use of this multigroup measure to assess ethnic identity in diverse samples, there have been few efforts to assess the measurement equivalence. To date, studies of measurement invariance of the MEIM-R have been limited by small and/or narrow samples. The present study evaluated factor structure, measurement invariance, convergent validity, and criterion validity of the MEIM-R. With a sample of 1074 emerging adults, there was evidence for measurement invariance at the configural level. When considering measurement invariance at the level of factor loadings and intercepts, there was inconsistent evidence for invariance between pairs of ethnic groups. There was evidence for construct validity, though correlations were moderate. Overall, we recommend continued caution when making conclusions regarding differences between groups when using the MEIM-R