Adjectival Descriptors for Antisocial Personality Trait in Chinese Culture

Abstract

Normal personality traits measured with Chinese adjectives predict personality disorder functioning styles in both normal and personality disorder patients (Chapter “ Personality Disorders Predicted by the Chinese Adjective Descriptors of Personality”), the antisocial personality disorder in reverse, for example, might have trait-related domains which can be measured by Chinese adjectives. In the current Chapter, with lexical approach in two successive studies, we were aiming to identify the antisocial personality traits. In study 1, 48 adjectives from Chinese dictionary were trialed in 301 university students in the four geographical regions of China. Factor analysis yielded three prominent factors namely Intolerant, Assaulting, and Fierce and Malicious. The 10 adjectives with highest loadings for each factor were used to develop a short inventory, the Chinese Adjectival Descriptors for Antisocial Personality Trait (CADAP). In study 2, the 30-adjectives inventory was administered to 448 undergraduate students in the same universities as in study 1. Again, a three-factor structure was obtained. The internal reliabilities were 0.85, 0.81, and 0.81 for Fierce and Malicious, Assaulting, and Intolerant, respectively. The three factors were positively correlated to each other, and males scored significantly higher on Fierce and Malicious and Assaulting than females did. The CADAP might help to characterize the antisocial personality traits uniquely in Chinese culture. Further antisocial-related studies might be conducted in psychiatric/ psychological problems including personality disorders, for opportunities beyond this book.