An International Cross-Cultural Validation of the Ethical Leadership Questionnaire (ELQ).

By investigating the ethical perspectives of school principals in five different countries and verifying the cultural invariance of the Ethical Leadership Questionnaire (ELQ), this paper addresses the need to develop cross-cultural research instruments to better understand the work of school leaders in different contexts. In order to verify the invariance of the ELQ according to culture, school leaders from Canada (n=668), Israel (n=117), Malta (n=130), Sweden (n=260), and Turkey (n=460) completed the ELQ. A measurement invariance analysis was then conducted using the multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) approach, followed by a verification of item translation and equivalence of meaning. Invariance analyses demonstrated some differences in factor loadings (i.e. the regression coefficients indicating the strength of the relation between the items and the constructs they are assumed to measure). Results showed that the ELQ was culturally invariant, and that only one item out of 23 needed to be modified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]