Construct Validity of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory in a Correctional Sample

• Published in: Journal of personality assessment 2000-04, Vol.74 (2), p.262-281
• Main Authors: Sandoval, Ann-Marie R., Hancock, Danyel, Poythress, Norman, Edens, John F., Lilienfeld, Scott
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aggression; Altruism; Antisocial Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Borderline Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Construct validity; Empathy; Ethics; Female; Florida; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Personality Inventory - standards; Personality tests; Prisoners - psychology; Prisoners - statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics; Psychopathic Personality Inventory; Reproducibility of Results; Sampling Studies; Self Disclosure
• ISSN: 0022-3891; 1532-7752
• DOI: 10.1207/S15327752JPA7402_7

The relations between the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996) and 4 theoretically related constructs (empathy, aggression, work ethic, and borderline personality disorder) were examined. Additionally, the relation between the PPI and heroism was explored. One hundred male inmates were administered the PPI, the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972), the Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992), the Protestant Ethic Scale (Mirels & Garrett, 1971), the Self-Report for Borderline Personality Scale (Oldham et al., 1985), and the Activity Frequency Inventory (Lilienfeld, 1998). As predicted, the PPI was significantly negatively correlated with empathy and significantly positively related to aggression and borderline personality. Contrary to prediction, the correlation between the PPI and work ethic was not significant. Eight of 11 hypotheses regarding the relations of the PPI subscales to these 4 constructs were corroborated. Results support the construct validity of the PPI in a correctional sample. The exploratory analysis of the relation between the PPI and heroism revealed no significant relations.