Further analysis of the social psychopathy scale

Abstract

This paper presents a further examination of the Social Psychopathy Scale (SPS) which was designed to measure psychopathic-like characteristics in normal samples; until the present study, data was only available for U.S. subjects. The SPS, Socialization Scale (SO) and the EPQ were administered to 92 U.K. subjects. The mean scores and factor structure of the SPS obtained in the present study were compared with those obtained in a previous study with U.S. subjects and revealed only a limited degree of correspondence. There was a predicted negative correlation between the SPS and SO and predicted positive correlation between the SPS and the P-scale of the EPQ. There was some variability in the relationship between the SO and subscales of the EPQ with the factors of the SPS obtained in the present study. Two aspects of the results are discussed: the variability in the factor structure of the SPS, and the nature of the concept of social psychopathy.