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Table 6 Meaning in Life Questionnaire ā€“ presence subscale: differential item functioning for country

From: Rasch analysis of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire among adults from South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand

Ā 

MLQ-P (Bonferroni Ī±ā€‰=ā€‰0.003)

MLQ-P-4 (Bonferroni Ī±ā€‰=ā€‰0.004)

MLQ-P-4 1122345 (Bonferroni Ī±ā€‰=ā€‰0.004)

Item

DIF Measure

(DIF S.E.)

Contrast

MH

DIF Measure

(DIF S.E.)

Contrast

MH

DIF Measure

(DIF S.E.)

Contrast

MH

Ā 

AU

SA

NZ

Ā Ā 

AU

SA

NZ

Ā Ā 

AU

SA

NZ

Ā Ā 

1

0.38 (0.08)

-0.28 (0.08)

0.16 (0.07)

AUā€‰>ā€‰SA

AUā€‰>ā€‰SA

NZā€‰>ā€‰SA

0.36 (0.10)

-0.28 (0.11)

0.19 (0.09)

AUā€‰>ā€‰SA

AUā€‰>ā€‰SA

0.45 (0.13)

-0.41 (0.13)

0.25 (0.12)

AUā€‰>ā€‰SA

NZā€‰>ā€‰SA

AUā€‰>ā€‰SA

NZā€‰>ā€‰SA

4

0.32 (0.08)

-0.12 (0.08)

0.30 (0.07)

Ā 

AUā€‰>ā€‰SA

NZā€‰>ā€‰SA

0.25 (0.10)

0.00 (0.10)

0.41 (0.09)

Ā 

NZā€‰>ā€‰SA

Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

5

Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 

-0.76 (0.12)

-0.15 (0.11)

-0.89 (0.11)

SAā€‰>ā€‰NZ

SAā€‰>ā€‰AU

SAā€‰>ā€‰NZ

-0.97 (0.14)

-0.24 (0.12)

-1.07 (0.12)

SAā€‰>ā€‰AU

SAā€‰>ā€‰NZ

SAā€‰>ā€‰AU

SAā€‰>ā€‰NZ

9a

-0.79 (0.10)

0.41 (0.07)

-0.19 (0.08)

SAā€‰>ā€‰AU

SAā€‰>ā€‰AU

NZā€‰>ā€‰AU

SAā€‰>ā€‰NZ

Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 
  1. Note. MLQ-P original Presence of Meaning subscale of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, MLQ-P-4 MLQ-P with item 9 removed, MLQ-P-4 1122345 MLQ-P-4 with response categories 1 and 2 collapsed and categories 3 and 4 collapsed, Bonferroni Ī± Bonferroni-corrected significance level, DIF measure item challenge for the particular country, DIF S.E. standard error of item challenge for the particular country, Contrast if the DIF contrast (i.e., the difference between the two countriesā€™ DIF measures) was larger than or equal to 0.64, the countries are specified in this column, MH if the p-value of the Mantel-Haenszel test was smaller than Bonferroni Ī±, the countries are specified in this column, AU Australian sample, SA South African sample, NZ sample from New Zealand. In columns DIF Contrast and MH, xā€‰>ā€‰y implies that respondents from country x found it significantly harder to endorse the item than respondents from country y given equal levels of presence of meaning
  2. aThe original item 9 was reversed in these analyses