The objectives of this study were to investigate the replicability, construct equivalence, item bias and
reliability of the Social Axioms Survey (SAS) in the South African Police Service (SAPS). A cross-sectional
survey design was used. The participants consisted of applicants who had applied for jobs in
the SAPS (N = 1535), and the SAS was administered to them. An exploratory factor analysis utilising
target rotation applied to all 60 items of the SAS revealed four interpretable factors (Social Cynicism,
Reward for Application, Fate Control, and Spirituality/Religiosity). Values of Tucker’s phi higher than
0,90 were found for seven language groups (Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Swati, Tsonga, Venda and Pedi).
Analyses of variance found that item bias was not a major disturbance. Unacceptable alpha values
were found for some of the scales of the SAS.