Personality across the ethnic divide in Singapore: Are “Chinese Traits” uniquely Chinese?

In this study, the English version of the Cross-Cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment Inventory-2 (CPAI-2) was administered to three samples representing the main ethnic groups in Singapore: Chinese (N = 211), Malays (N = 163), and Indians (N = 76), with the aims of (i) replicating the factor structure of the CPAI-2; (ii) comparing the scale scores of the whole Singaporean sample with a Chinese normative sample from China; and (iii) comparing the scores of the three ethnic groups with each other. Factor analysis and Procrustes rotation showed that the four CPAI-2 factors, Social Potency, Dependability, Accommodation, and Interpersonal Relatedness, could generally be recovered. Comparing group level means, some scales (e.g., Diversity, Divergent thinking, Optimism/Pessimism, Meticulousness, Locus of Control, Interpersonal Tolerance) showed commonalities across Singaporeans, in contradistinction to Chinese norm. Some scales, including some supposed to reflect traditional Chinese values, showed differences among the Singaporean ethnic groups, with non-Chinese Singaporeans endorsing Chinese values more than Chinese Singaporeans. Finally, issues for future research are discussed.