Differential Effects of Ethnic Membership, Sex, and Occupation on the California Psychological Inventory

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of race, sex, and occupation on college students' responses to the California Psychological Inventory. Analyses of variance of the standard CPI scales indicated numerous race, sex, and race X sex effects. A comparison of the results of factor analyses of the responses of black and white subjects (within each sex) indicated a similarity in factor structure between the two female groups, but not for the two male groups. These findings suggested that, due to these major differences in scale means and factor structure, care be taken in interpreting scores from the CPI when they are obtained from nonwhite populations.