Male Role Norms Inventory–Short Form (MRNI-SF): Development, confirmatory factor analytic investigation of structure, and measurement invariance across gender.

Abstract

The current study reports the development from the Male Role Norms Inventory-Revised (MRNI-R; Levant, Rankin, Williams, Hasan, & Smalley, 2010) of the 21-item MRNI-Short Form (MRNI-SF). Confirmatory factor analysis of MRNI-SF responses from a sample of 1,017 undergraduate participants (549 men, 468 women) indicated that the best fitting "bifactor" model incorporated the hypothesized 7-factor structure while explicitly modeling an additional, general traditional masculinity ideology factor. Specifically, each item-level indicator loaded on 2 factors: a general traditional masculinity ideology factor and a specific factor corresponding to 1 of the 7 hypothesized traditional masculinity ideology norms. The bifactor model was assessed for measurement invariance across gender groups, with findings of full configural invariance and partial metric invariance, such that factor loadings were equivalent across the gender groups for the 7 specific factors but not for the general traditional masculinity ideology factor. Theoretical explanations for this latter result include the potential that men's sense of self or identity may be engaged when responding to questions asking to what extent they agree or disagree with normative statements about their behavior, a possibility that could be investigated in future research by examining the associations of the general and specific factors with measures of masculine identity. Additional exploratory invariance analyses demonstrated latent mean differences between men and women on 4 of the 8 factors, and equivocal results for invariance of item intercepts, item uniquenesses, and factor variances-covariances.

Construct validity evidence for the Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form: A structural equation modeling approach using the bifactor model.

“…Information on these measures follows, and additional information on the MRNI-SF, CMNI-46, and GRCS-SF is reported in Citation masked. (Levant et al, 2013) is derived from the MRNI-R and measures the endorsement of TMI. As noted in the Introduction above, the MRNI-SF has seven subscales, each with three items.…”

Further examination of the factor structure of the Male Role Norms Inventory-Short Form (MRNI-SF): Measurement considerations for women, men of color, and gay men.

“…In addition to being significantly shorter, the MRNI-SF has demonstrated good fit in a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) measurement model of the seven subfactors and more advanced models specifying simultaneous influences of the seven subfactors and a general TMI factor (Levant et al, 2013). Specifically, Levant and colleagues (2013) tested two competing measurement models for the MRNI-SF which included a broad TMI factor: a second-order factor structure and a bifactor structure.…”

“…In the past 30 years, counseling psychologists have made significant advancements in the measurement of masculinity-related constructs, such as gender role conflict (O'Neil 1981(O'Neil , 2008, conformity to masculine norms (Mahalik et al, 2003) and masculinity ideologies (Levant, Hall, & Rankin, 2013;Levant, Hall, Weigold, & McCurdy, 2015). Most notably, investigators have identified that men internalize masculinity ideologies, consisting of socially constructed beliefs about what men should think, feel, and do.…”

“…Finding evidence for invariance would allow us to have confidence that the scores from different demographic groups could be reliably compared. In addition, although the MRNI-SF has been subjected to rigorous confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) investigations of its factor structure (Levant et al, 2013;Levant et al, 2015;Levant, Hall, Weigold, & McCurdy, 2016), advances in measurement research indicate that further important psychometric properties of the MRNI-SF may need to be examined. Accordingly, the present study extended prior research by modelling the factor structure of the MRNI-SF, calculating indices of model reliability and dimensionality, and testing measurement invariance between groups that fit the White, male, and Eurocentric perspectives reflected in TMIs (i.e., White heterosexual men), and groups that do not reflect those qualities (i.e., women, racial and ethnic minorities, and gay men).…”

“…Although all of these instruments have had a profound, positive impact on the field, only one-the MRNI-has been repeatedly refined through advanced factor analytic procedures to identify the best ways to model both specific aspects of TMI and a broad TMI general factor. The responses to items from the most recent version of the MRNI, the MRNI short form (MRNI-SF; Levant et al, 2013), can be used to construct a total score and seven subscale scores: avoidance of femininity (AoF), negativity toward sexual minorities (NTSM), self-reliance through mechanical skills (SRMS), toughness (T), dominance (Dom), importance of sex (IoS), and restrictive emotionality (RE).…”