The common-item problem in measurement: Effects on cross-cultural invariance of personality inventory structure

A previous study has reported the similarity of the California
Psychological Inventory (CPI) structure in American and Israeli
samples. In the present paper, however, it is argued that the invariance
of structure of the CPI between these two samples may be
partially attributable to a common-item effect—that is, the scoring of
some items on more than one scale. This common-item effect may
superimpose or magnify a similarity of structure. Data analyses
supporting this view are presented. It is concluded that a commonitem
effect in cross-cultural comparison of structure should be considered,
otherwise, a similarity of structure between two cultures may
be inferred when such a similarity does not exist