Reliability and Construct Validity of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised in a Swedish Non-Criminal Sample - A Multimethod Approach including Psychophysiological Correlates of Empathy for Pain.

Karolina Sörman,Katarina Howner,Marianne Kristiansson,John F Edens,Martin Ingvar,Hui-Xin Wang,Shilan Caman,Predrag Petrovic,Håkan Fischer,Gustav Nilsonne,Sandra Tamm,Scott O Lilienfeld,Petter Gustavsson

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156570

Abstract

Cross-cultural investigation of psychopathy measures is important for clarifying the nomological network surrounding the psychopathy construct. The Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) is one of the most extensively researched self-report measures of psychopathic traits in adults. To date however, it has been examined primarily in North American criminal or student samples. To address this gap in the literature, we examined PPI-R’s reliability, construct validity and factor structure in non-criminal individuals (N = 227) in Sweden, using a multimethod approach including psychophysiological correlates of empathy for pain. PPI-R construct validity was investigated in subgroups of participants by exploring its degree of overlap with (i) the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), (ii) self-rated empathy and behavioral and physiological responses in an experiment on empathy for pain, and (iii) additional self-report measures of alexithymia and trait anxiety. The PPI-R total score was significantly associated with PCL:SV total and factor scores. The PPI-R Coldheartedness scale demonstrated significant negative associations with all empathy subscales and with rated unpleasantness and skin conductance responses in the empathy experiment. The PPI-R higher order Self-Centered Impulsivity and Fearless Dominance dimensions were associated with trait anxiety in opposite directions (positively and negatively, respectively). Overall, the results demonstrated solid reliability (test-retest and internal consistency) and promising but somewhat mixed construct validity for the Swedish translation of the PPI-R.

Highlights

Psychopathy is associated with a constellation of affective, interpersonal, and behavioral traits including egocentricity, dishonesty, fearlessness, lack of empathy and guilt, and poor impulse control [1]
Some critics have argued that the heavy focus on antisocial and criminal behavior in Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL)-based instruments has contributed to an underemphasis on affective and interpersonal features in psychopathy, unconfounded by criminality [7], but see [8] for a competing view
Psychopathic traits were assessed with the Self-Report Psychopathy (SRP) [67] scale, and the results demonstrated cultural differences

Summary

Introduction

Psychopathy is associated with a constellation of affective, interpersonal, and behavioral traits including egocentricity, dishonesty, fearlessness, lack of empathy and guilt, and poor impulse control [1]. Opinions diverge regarding whether seemingly adaptive features (e.g., lack of anxiety, social poise, emotional resilience) are part of the psychopathy construct [1, 3, 4]. These conceptual uncertainties stem partly from the dominance of one measure in the field during the past three decades: the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) [5,6]. Some critics have argued that the heavy focus on antisocial and criminal behavior in PCL-based instruments has contributed to an underemphasis on affective and interpersonal features in psychopathy (e.g., lack of empathy, fearlessness), unconfounded by criminality [7], but see [8] for a competing view

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Conclusion