Measurement Invariance and Comparison of Mean Scores by Age Cohort of Two Versions of the Male Role Norms Inventory

This study was designed to inquire into the effects of aging versus age cohort by examining how men and women representing four age cohorts across the life span endorse masculinity ideology. Ascertaining whether different groups (such as age cohorts) understand a scale in the same way by assessing measurement invariance is a fundamental but oft-ignored prerequisite to comparing their scores on the scale. The Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF) is a multidimensional measure used to assess beliefs in specific norms of masculinity, as well as general beliefs in traditional masculinity ideology (TMI). A five-item unidimensional MRNI -Very Brief (MRNI-VB) has also been developed measuring TMI only. This study administered the MRNI-SF (which includes the five items for the MRNI-VB) to 1,352 men and women in four age cohorts: young, established, middle-aged, and older. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses found support for partial strong invariance for the MRNI-SF across age cohorts. Support for partial strict invariance was found for the MRNI-VB across age cohorts. For both scales, the effect sizes of non-invariant parameters were small in magnitude, thus non-invariance may have little practical significance. These results suggest that the MRNI-SF and the MRNI-VB measure similar masculinity ideology constructs across men and women in four age cohorts. Mean scores on each instrument were therefore compared across age cohorts with confidence, finding that the age cohorts commonly did not endorse “traditional” masculinity ideology, but differed in the level of disagreement with the tenets of TMI in six out of nine comparisons. In five of those six, older adults hewed more strongly to TMI than younger adults, suggesting that age cohort was more determinative of masculinity beliefs than age.