Extending self-leadership research to the East: Measurement equivalence of the Chinese and English versions of the MSLQ

In response to calls regarding the applicability of self-leadership measurement in Eastern (collectivistic) and Western (individualistic) cultures, this study examined the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the modified self-leadership questionnaire (MSLQ). The sample consisted of 395 Chinese students and 241 Australian students. Results revealed that the modified self-leadership questionnaire exhibited a satisfactory condition of psychometric properties across cultures. A series of multi-sample confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated the cross-cultural similarity of an 11-factor model across the Chinese and Australian samples. The modified self-leadership questionnaire was also found to possess measurement invariance, suggesting that it is appropriate for cross-cultural research assessing differences of self-leadership behaviour across Chinese and Western cultures. Implications for future research are also discussed.