Cross-country evaluation of the ISSP Occupational Commitment Scale (ISSP-OCC): A valid scale across countries?

Large-scale surveys are of great importance in sociological research. However, the measurement quality of scales used in large-scale surveys is rarely investigated. To address this issue, the present study examined the psychometric properties and cross-national measurement invariance of the ISSP Occupational Commitment scale (ISSP-OCC) using the ISSP 2015 data. The ISSP-OCC scale is an ultra-short, two-item scale that has been administered in 38 countries. Our results indicate that the ISSP-OCC has acceptable psychometric properties in 31 countries; we found evidence of concurrent validity through correlations with other constructs such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Tests of measurement invariance indicated that metric invariance held in 31 countries and scalar invariance held in 22 countries. Although our results indicate that the ISSP-OCC is suitable for national and international surveys in many countries, they also highlight the importance of examining the measurement quality of scales used in large-scale surveys.