Validating the Portuguese WRISc for the African Context

Authors: Kleinjan Redelinghuys and Sharlene Olivier

In the world of psychometrics, language should never be a barrier to understanding human potential—or identifying workplace risk. At JVR, we are committed to ensuring our assessments are as inclusive as they are scientifically rigorous.

We are excited to share the initial validation results for the Portuguese translation of the Work-related Risk and Integrity Scale (WRISc). This study marks a significant step forward in making high-quality integrity assessments accessible to Portuguese-speaking professionals, specifically focusing on the dialects used across Africa.

When translating a complex tool like the WRISc, we don't just simply translate words from one language to another. Our validation study had two primary goals:

• Verify Reliability: Do the Portuguese items consistently measure what they are supposed to?

• Determine Norming Requirements: Can we use existing global norms, or does the Portuguese version require a standalone scoring set?

To ensure cultural and linguistic nuance, JVR partnered with cApStAn, a global leader in linguistic quality control. The focus was specifically on ensuring the items resonate with the Portuguese dialect used in Africa, ensuring the assessment feels natural and relevant to local respondents.

Who Participated?

In late 2025, we conducted a study via Prolific with 299 working adults fluent in both English and Portuguese.

Participant Demographics:

• Location: Residents of Portugal (providing a baseline of linguistic fluency)

• Gender: 53% Men / 47% Women

• Diversity: The sample included 96% White, 2% Mixed race, and 1% Black participants

• Average Age: 33 years

The Technical Deep Dive: Does it Work? 

1. High Reliability

We used McDonald’s Omega to measure internal consistency. In the psychometric world, a score above 0.80 is expected for high-stakes testing.

Almost all WRISc scales in Portuguese demonstrated reliability above 0.80, except for the External Locus of Control scale. The overall test in the initial Portuguese sample proved to be a reliable instrument.

1. Consistent Item Functioning (Rasch Analysis)

Using Rasch modelling, we checked if the items performed the same way in both languages. We found that if an item was difficult or easy in English, it followed the same pattern in Portuguese. This consistency suggests that the structure of the test remained intact during translation.

1. Freedom from Bias (DIF & DTF)

We investigated whether test results were consistent across English and Portuguese administrations for the same individuals and these were the results:

• Negligible Bias: Most items showed no language-based bias.

• Small Practical Impact: Even in scales where minor statistical differences were found, the practical impact on the final score was less than 1.2% (small practical implications for hiring or development decisions).

In Conclusion

The Portuguese WRISc is a reliable and valid instrument. Because the differences between the English and Portuguese versions are minimal, results indicate that separate Portuguese norms are not necessary at this stage. The existing norms are suitable to interpret results for Portuguese-speaking candidates.

Note on Reporting: While the test items are now fully available in Portuguese, please note that the generated reports are currently still provided in English.

Please feel free to reach out to us if you are interested in viewing the full technical supplement or if you have any questions.