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Comparing Two Alternative Measures of General Personality in the Assessment of Psychopathy: A Test of the NEO PI‐R and the MPQ
Author(s) -
Gaughan Eric T.,
Miller Joshua D.,
Pryor Lauren R.,
Lynam Donald R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00571.x
Subject(s) - psychology , psychopathy , personality , facet (psychology) , personality assessment inventory , dark triad , psychometrics , big five personality traits , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , social psychology
This study examined the interrelations between two measures of personality, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI‐R; P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; Tellegen & Waller, 2008), and their relations with psychopathy in a sample of undergraduates. Results revealed good convergence between conceptually related personality traits; however, the NEO PI‐R facets accounted for more variance in the MPQ subscales (mean R 2 =.49) than did MPQ subscales in NEO PI‐R facets (mean R 2 =.35). Both accounted for substantial proportions of variance in psychopathy scores, although the NEO PI‐R accounted for larger proportions and manifested greater incremental validity when using the broader domains of each measure; the differences decreased when the narrower facets/subscales were used. The results suggest that, although both measures assess psychopathy‐related traits, the NEO PI‐R provides a more complete description because of its assessment of interpersonal antagonism and the central role of this construct in psychopathy.