In the present study, the psychometric properties and factor structure of the 24-item Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) were tested in a sample of 687 college students. Results support a similar 3-factor structure to that identified in samples of youths, in whom this measure was previously validated. Correlations with external…

Recently, integrative, hierarchical models of personality and personality disorder (PD)--such as the Big Three, Big Four, and Big Five trait models--have gained support as a unifying dimensional framework for describing PD. However, no measures to date can simultaneously represent each of these potentially interesting levels of the personality…

A new self-report assessment of the basic traits of psychopathy was developed with a general trait model of personality (five-factor model [FFM]) as a framework. Scales were written to assess maladaptive variants of the 18 FFM traits that are robustly related to psychopathy across a variety of perspectives including empirical correlations, expert…

This study examined the convergent validity of maternal reports of child emotion in a sample of 190 children between the ages of 3 and 6. Children completed a battery of 10 emotion-eliciting laboratory tasks; their mothers and untrained naive observers rated child emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, and anger) following each task, and…

The personality traits of neuroticism and agreeableness are consistently related to marital quality, influencing the individual's own (i.e., actor effect) and the spouse's marital quality (i.e., partner effect). However, this research has almost exclusively relied on self-reports of personality, despite the fact that spouse ratings have been found…

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a method that is now widely used to study behavior and mood in the settings in which they naturally occur. It maximizes ecological validity and avoids the limitations of retrospective self-reports. Compliance patterns across time have not been studied. Consistent compliance patterns could lead to data not…

The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994; Bagby, Taylor, & Parker, 1994) is the most widely used self-report measure of the alexithymia construct. The TAS-20 comprises 3 factors that assess difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, and externally oriented thinking. Although the instrument…

The current study examined empirical correlates of scores on Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF; A. Tellegen & Y. S. Ben-Porath, 2008; Y. S. Ben-Porath & A. Tellegen, 2008) scales in a college setting. The MMPI-2-RF and six criterion measures (assessing anger, assertiveness, sex roles, cognitive…

Many personality assessment inventories provide gender-specific norms to allow comparison of an individual's standing relative to others of the same gender. In some cases, this means that an identical raw score produces standardized scores that differ notably depending on whether the respondent is male or female. Thus, an important question is…

Five studies document the validity of a new 8-item scale designed to measure "positivity," defined as the tendency to view life and experiences with a positive outlook. In the first study (N = 372), the psychometric properties of Positivity Scale (P Scale) were examined in accordance with classical test theory using a large number of…

We examined the psychometric properties of the Novaco Anger Scale--Provocation Inventory (NAS-PI, 1994 version) in Dutch violent forensic psychiatric patients and secondary vocational students. A confirmatory factor analysis of the subscale structure of the NAS was carried out, reliability was investigated, and relations were calculated between…

A predominant dimensional model of general personality structure is the five-factor model (FFM). Quite a number of alternative instruments have been developed to assess the domains of the FFM. The current study compares the validity of 2 alternative versions of the Shedler and Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200) FFM scales, 1 that was developed…

An Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths (IIS) was developed and validated in a series of large college student samples. Based on interpersonal theory and associated methods, the IIS was designed to assess positive characteristics representing the full range of interpersonal domains, including those generally thought to have negative qualities…

Interpersonal characteristics are core features of the psychopathy construct which have a unique pattern of correlations with a variety of external correlates. To improve the assessment of interpersonal traits, the current study evaluated the internal structure of the Interpersonal Measure of Psychopathy (IM-P) through exploratory and confirmatory…

Person-fit assessment is used to identify persons who respond aberrantly to a test or questionnaire. In this study, S. P. Reise's (2000) method for evaluating person fit using 2-level logistic regression was applied to 13 personality scales of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; L. Clark, 1996) that had been administered…