A comparative evaluation of seven instruments for measuring values comprising Hofstede?s model of culture

Culture and its measurement are foundational to International Business research. Hofstede's model of culture dominates cross-cultural research. Unfortunately, the evidence of poor psychometric properties of Hofstede's instrument for measuring cultural values, the VSM, has been mounting, which prompted the development of numerous alternative instruments for measuring cultural values comprising Hofstede's model of culture. The abundance of choices makes it challenging to determine which of the instruments is most suitable for a given study. Using a large international sample (N = 12,462), we evaluated the psychometric properties of seven different instruments for measuring individual-level values in Hofstede's cultural framework and assessed their content validity, reliability, factor structure, and measurement equivalence. Our tests confirmed that Hofstede's instrument suffers from several psychometric deficiencies, while other instruments, notably those developed by Dorfman and Howell (1988), Yoo et al. (2011), and Taras et al. (2013), showed good reliability and validity. Guidelines for selecting the most suitable instrument and directions for future instrument development are provided.