Abstract

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Scale (MEIM) has been widely used in youth and adults to assess ethnic identity in different groups that constitute minorities. The objective of this research is to analyze the validity, the factor structure, and the metric equivalence of MEIM in a sample of older Chilean people belonging to the Aymara and Mapuche indigenous people. It was a transactional study with a sample of 569 elderly people. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to check the bifactorial structure of the scale, and reliability and validity analyzes of the scale were also performed. The two-factor structure was confirmed, which was made upon MEIM affirmation and exploration, as well as the existence of configural metric, and scalar factor invariance. The elimination of item 4 was done, so that the eleven items grouped into two factors showed a good fit [(chi 2(82)=412.25; p.00); NFI=.92; RFI=.89; IFI=.93; NNFI=.91; CFI=.93; RMSEA=.08 (.07, .09)]. Reliability by Cronbach's Alpha was of .89, .72, and .93 for the general scale, exploration, and affirmation respectively. Therefore, MEIM is an acceptable, reliable, and valid instrument to assess ethnic identity in indigenous Chilean older people.