Comparability of the Social Behavior Inventory in English and Dutch

The Social Behavior Inventory (SBI) assesses social behaviors along the 2 orthogonal axes defining the interpersonal circumplex; that is, in terms of quarrelsomeness-agreeableness and dominance-submissiveness. To contribute to evidence evaluating the cross-cultural construct validity of the SBI, we investigated whether there are differences in how English-speaking students living in Canada and Dutch-speaking students living in The Netherlands view the SBI items. Results suggested there is similarity in the meaning of the items in the 2 cultures. The location of the original English SBI items on the 2 axes of the interpersonal circumplex was generally as expected. Similar results were found for a Dutch translation of the SBI. Differences occurred primarily along the dominance-submissiveness axis and could be explained by cultural differences in men's focus on power.