Cross-cultural adaptation of the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

The Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ), measuring task performance, contextual performance, and counterproductive work behavior, was developed in The Netherlands.

OBJECTIVES:

To cross-culturally adapt the IWPQ from the Dutch to the American-English language, and assess the questionnaire’s internal consistency and content validity in the American-English context.

METHODS:

A five stage translation and adaptation process was used: forward translation, synthesis, back-translation, expert committee review, and pilot-testing. During the pilot-testing, cognitive interviews with 40 American workers were performed, to examine the comprehensibility, applicability, and completeness of the American-English IWPQ.

RESULTS:

Questionnaire instructions were slightly modified to aid interpretation in the American-English language. Inconsistencies with verb tense were identified, and it was decided to consistently use simple past tense. The wording of five items was modified to better suit the American-English language. In general, participants were positive on the comprehensibility, applicability and completeness of the questionnaire during the pilot-testing phase. Furthermore, the study showed positive results concerning the internal consistency (Cronbach’s alphas for the scales between 0.79–0.89) and content validity of the American-English IWPQ.

CONCLUSION:

The results indicate that the cross-cultural adaptation of the American-English IWPQ was successful and that the measurement properties of the translated version are promising.