The transferability of Western concepts to other cultures: Validation of the Zuckerman–Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire in a Saudi Arabic context

Figures & data

Table

Practice points

Questionnaires are not by definition transferable to other cultures. Cultural differences in social desirability may affect the replicability of instrument structure. Ensure that item content applies to the culture in which the questionnaire will be administered. Future research may focus on the use of different measurement approaches, like the forced-choice approach, to sidestep social desirability.

Table 1. Item-rest correlations, after corrections for test-length and self-correlation^a,b.

	F1	F2	F3	F4	F5
01. I do not like to waste time just sitting around and relaxing	0.118	−0.025	−0.036	−0.030	−0.020
02. When I get mad, I say ugly things	−0.005	0.113	−0.013	0.027	0.108
03. It’s natural for me to curse when I am mad	0.003	0.091	0.001	0.016	0.041
04. I do not mind going out alone and usually prefer it to being out in a large group	−0.042	0.019	−0.078	−0.069	0.023
05. I lead a busier life than most people	0.089	−0.016	−0.035	0.050	0.050
06. I often do things on impulse	0.192	−0.083	−0.007	0.016	−0.110
07. I almost never feel like I would like to hit someone	−0.070	0.041	0.004	−0.048	0.000
08. I spend as much time with my friends as I can	−0.024	−0.012	0.094	0.092	−0.032
09. My body often feels all tightened up for no apparent reason	−0.021	0.037	−0.007	0.065	0.190
10. I frequently get emotionally upset	−0.014	0.048	−0.092	0.025	0.262
11. If someone offends me, I just try not to think about it	−0.057	0.036	0.010	−0.043	−0.027
12. I like to be doing things all of the time	0.189	−0.043	−0.032	0.068	−0.020
13. I would like to take off on a trip with no preplanned or definite routes or timetables	−0.037	0.021	0.037	0.125	0.084
14. I tend to be oversensitive and easily hurt by thoughtless remarks and actions of others	0.027	0.047	−0.055	0.057	0.151
15. I do not need a large number of casual friends	−0.053	0.042	0.069	−0.004	−0.036
16. I can enjoy myself just lying around and not doing anything active	0.108	−0.067	−0.024	−0.069	−0.070
17. I enjoy getting into new situations where you can’t predict how things will turn out	0.060	0.017	0.017	0.138	0.021
18. I am easily frightened	−0.076	0.065	−0.070	0.013	0.239
19. If people annoy me I do not hesitate to tell them so	0.017	0.014	−0.064	0.030	0.151
20. I tend to be uncomfortable at big parties	−0.002	−0.074	0.135	0.021	−0.151
21. I do not feel the need to be doing things all of the time	0.105	−0.022	−0.002	−0.010	−0.104
22. I sometimes feel panicky	−0.058	0.032	−0.067	0.026	0.235
23. At parties, I enjoy mingling with many people whether I already know them or not	0.066	−0.012	0.084	0.111	0.004
24. I sometimes like to do things that are a little frightening	0.102	0.012	0.066	0.133	−0.052
25. When on vacation I like to engage in active sports rather than just lie around	0.123	−0.026	0.074	0.080	−0.079
26. I’ll try anything once	−0.077	0.079	−0.030	0.017	0.110
27. I often feel unsure of myself	−0.052	0.068	−0.102	0.001	0.202
28. I would not mind being socially isolated in some place for some period of time	−0.024	−0.054	0.152	−0.038	−0.172
29. I like to wear myself out with hard work or exercise	0.154	−0.021	−0.017	0.096	−0.010
30. I would like the kind of life where one is on the move and travelling a lot, with lots of change and excitement	0.090	−0.055	0.018	0.113	−0.003
31. I often worry about things that other people think are unimportant	0.034	0.040	−0.027	−0.002	0.103
32. When people disagree with me I cannot help getting into an argument with them	−0.036	0.069	−0.075	0.021	0.149
33. Generally, I like to be alone so I can do things I want to do without social distractions	−0.006	−0.058	0.151	−0.019	−0.140
34. I sometimes do “crazy” things just for fun	0.015	0.063	0.030	0.171	0.053
35. I have a very strong temper	0.024	−0.070	0.008	0.056	−0.025
36. I like to be active as soon as I wake up in the morning	0.104	−0.036	−0.003	0.036	0.003
37. I can’t help being a little rude to people I do not like	−0.003	0.020	−0.018	0.028	0.042
38. I am a very sociable person	0.101	−0.022	0.105	0.101	−0.083
39. I prefer friends who are excitingly unpredictable	−0.031	0.058	0.074	0.042	−0.008
40. I often feel like crying sometimes without a reason	−0.017	0.043	−0.043	0.065	0.239
41. I like to keep busy all the time	0.133	0.022	−0.035	0.031	−0.023
42. I often get so carried away by new and exciting things and ideas that I never think of possible complications	−0.008	−0.005	−0.011	0.094	0.062
43. I don’t let a lot of trivial things irritate me	−0.060	0.024	−0.022	−0.104	0.031
44. I am always patient with others even when they are irritating	−0.091	0.040	0.020	−0.061	−0.006
45. I usually prefer to do things alone	−0.125	0.023	0.044	−0.066	−0.002
46. I often feel uncomfortable and ill at ease for no real reason	−0.044	0.067	−0.064	0.024	0.244
47. I probably spend more time than I should socializing with friends	0.008	0.057	0.076	0.110	0.041
48. When I do things, I do them with lots of energy	0.179	−0.028	0.007	0.112	−0.006
49. I like “wild” uninhibited parties	0.057	0.019	0.048	0.104	0.011
50. When people shout at me, I shout back	−0.045	0.064	0.037	0.099	0.039

^aF1 – Activity, F2 – Aggression-Hostility, F3 – Sociability, F4 – Impulsive Sensation Seeking, F5 – Neuroticism-Anxiety.

^bCorrelations of items with the scales to which they were assigned are underlined and – if the items correlate highest with the scales being assigned to – printed in italics.

Figure 1. Scree plot of the eigenvalues obtained from principal components analysis.

Table 2. Factor loadings and communalities of the final 4-factor solution.

		Component
No.	Item	1	2	3	4	h^2
18	I am easily frightened	0.620	−0.024	−0.157	0.021	0.41
46	I often feel uncomfortable and ill at ease for no real reason	0.571	0.070	−0.101	−0.005	0.34
10	I frequently get emotionally upset	0.570	−0.026	0.027	−0.069	0.33
40	I often feel like crying sometimes without a reason	0.570	0.156	0.006	−0.018	0.35
28	I would not mind being socially isolated in some place for some period of time	0.556	−0.061	0.236	−0.027	0.37
27	I often feel unsure of myself	0.552	−0.090	−0.106	−0.052	0.33
22	I sometimes feel panicky	0.538	0.025	−0.059	0.002	0.29
33	Generally, I like to be alone so I can do things I want to do without social distractions	0.499	−0.133	0.143	−0.009	0.29
20	I tend to be uncomfortable at big parties	0.489	−0.250	0.134	0.035	0.32
19	If people annoy me I do not hesitate to tell them so	0.476	0.057	0.045	0.176	0.26
32	When people disagree with me I cannot help getting into an argument with them	0.451	−0.046	−0.118	0.011	0.22
9	My body often feels all tightened up for no apparent reason	0.413	0.150	−0.057	−0.194	0.23
14	I tend to be oversensitive and easily hurt by thoughtless remarks and actions of others	0.389	0.143	0.127	0.023	0.19
26	I’ll try anything once	0.346	0.030	−0.291	−0.006	0.21
31	I often worry about things that other people think are unimportant	0.256	−0.003	0.069	0.120	0.08
24	I sometimes like to do things that are a little frightening	−0.118	0.539	0.193	0.036	0.34
47	I probably spend more time than I should socializing with friends	0.088	0.536	−0.161	−0.064	0.32
34	I sometimes do “crazy” things just for fun	0.175	0.518	−0.004	−0.202	0.34
8	I spend as much time with my friends as I can	−0.079	0.489	−0.199	0.130	0.30
38	I am a very sociable person	−0.265	0.472	0.146	0.168	0.34
49	I like “wild” uninhibited parties	0.053	0.469	0.089	−0.052	0.23
23	At parties, I enjoy mingling with many people whether I already know them or not	−0.103	0.466	0.057	0.120	0.25
17	I enjoy getting into new situations where you can’t predict how things will turn out	0.089	0.442	0.167	−0.056	0.23
13	I would like to take off on a trip with no preplanned or definite routes or timetables	0.189	0.374	−0.156	−0.079	0.21
25	When on vacation I like to engage in active sports rather than just lie around	−0.210	0.354	0.285	0.161	0.28
42	I often get so carried away by new and exciting things and ideas that I never think of possible complications	0.224	0.347	−0.008	0.152	0.19
30	I would like the kind of life where one is on the move and travelling a lot, with lots of change and excitement	0.012	0.335	0.198	0.130	0.17
4	I do not mind going out alone and usually prefer it to being out in a large group	−0.081	0.328	0.097	0.066	0.13
43	I don’t let a lot of trivial things irritate me	−0.026	0.324	0.081	0.283	0.19
12	I like to be doing things all of the time	0.030	0.108	0.566	0.068	0.34
6	I often do things on impulse	−0.231	0.103	0.523	0.149	0.36
29	I like to wear myself out with hard work or exercise	−0.003	0.205	0.506	0.094	0.31
48	When I do things, I do them with lots of energy	0.031	0.328	0.504	0.008	0.36
1	I do not like to waste time just sitting around and relaxing	−0.040	−0.114	0.432	−0.004	0.20
45	I usually prefer to do things alone	0.116	0.121	0.414	0.218	0.25
16	I can enjoy myself just lying around and not doing anything active	0.189	0.265	−0.414	−0.082	0.28
41	I like to keep busy all the time	0.015	0.013	0.395	−0.140	0.18
5	I lead a busier life than most people	0.115	0.098	0.334	−0.073	0.14
36	I like to be active as soon as I wake up in the morning	0.023	0.086	0.333	0.244	0.18
21	I do not feel the need to be doing things all of the time	0.231	0.074	−0.313	0.119	0.17
15	I do not need a large number of casual friends	0.168	−0.069	0.268	0.220	0.15
39	I prefer friends who are excitingly unpredictable	−0.035	0.231	−0.250	0.044	0.12
2	When I get mad, I say ugly things	0.210	0.152	0.103	−0.633	0.48
44	I am always patient with others even when they are irritating	0.103	0.160	0.143	0.589	0.40
3	It’s natural for me to curse when I am mad	0.101	0.152	0.098	−0.519	0.31
35	I have a very strong temper	−0.006	0.159	−0.060	0.484	0.26
11	If someone offends me, I just try not to think about it	0.113	0.098	0.120	0.446	0.24
50	When people shout at me, I shout back	0.108	0.320	−0.182	−0.361	0.28
7	I almost never feel like I would like to hit someone	0.042	0.118	0.182	0.253	0.11
37	I can’t help being a little rude to people I do not like	0.166	0.040	−0.049	0.212	0.08
	Initial eigenvalues	4.39	3.88	2.69	1.98
	Explained variance after rotation	8.79%	7.77%	5.38%	3.97%

h²: communality estimates (estimates of the proportion of variance in a given variable explained by all components jointly). Each item's highest loading is highlighted in bold.