Test of the Cultural Bias Hypothesis: Some Israeli Findings

The major aim of this study was to examine the cross-cultural validity of the test bias contention, with particular concern for possible sociocultural group differences in the construct and predictive validity of college entrance scholastic aptitude tests in Israel. The analyses were based on the test scores of 1,538 Israeli college student candidates of varying ethnic group membership, applying for admission to a major Israeli campus. The psychometric properties of the test battery were compared by ethnic group via a variety of internal (factor structure, reliability, etc.) and external (predictive validity, homogeneity of regression, etc.) test bias criteria. On the whole, the data provided little evidence for differential construct or predictive validity of aptitude test scores as a function of ethnic group membership, thus lending a greater deal of generality to previous research on test bias, generally negating the cultural bias hypothesis.