Title: US born vs. immigrant Latino sexual minority women satisfaction with life: an item response theory analysis

Authors: Michael D. Toland; Alejandro Morales

Addresses: Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506-0017, USA ' Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65203, USA

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the measurement equivalence of the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) among foreign-born (non-US born) and US born Latino sexual minority women (i.e., 'lesbian, bisexual, queer, or questioning/other' women) through an item response theory (IRT) analysis. Results show that US born (n = 137) and non-US born (n = 62) women did not differ in their item-level responses nor in their total score level responses on the SWLS. Overall, non-US born and US born Latino sexual minority women evaluate their personal accomplishments or task performance similarly. This study contributes to the growing literature supporting the use of the SWLS as the well-being measure of choice, even among a culturally diverse population of Latino women.

Keywords: measurement equivalence; item response theory; IRT; satisfaction with life scale; SWLS; Latino women; non-US born females; US born females; sexual minorities; USA; United States; personal accomplishments; task performance; well-being.

DOI: 10.1504/IJQRE.2013.056461

International Journal of Quantitative Research in Education, 2013 Vol.1 No.2, pp.212 - 227

Received: 11 Apr 2013
Accepted: 18 Apr 2013

Published online: 29 Apr 2014 *

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