Abstract. Response styles can influence item responses in addition to a respondent’s latent trait level. A common concern is that comparisons between individuals based on sum scores may be rendered invalid by response style effects. This paper investigates a multidimensional approach to modeling traits and response styles simultaneously. Models incorporating different response styles as well as personality traits (Big Five facets) were compared regarding model fit. Relationships between traits and response styles were investigated and different approaches to modeling extreme response style (ERS) were compared regarding their effects on trait estimates. All multidimensional models showed a better fit than the unidimensional models, indicating that response styles influenced item responses with ERS showing the largest incremental variance explanation. ERS and midpoint response style were mainly trait-independent whereas acquiescence and disacquiescence were strongly related to several personality traits. Expected a posteriori estimates of participants’ trait levels did not differ substantially between two-dimensional and unidimensional models when a set of heterogeneous items was used to model ERS. A minor adjustment of trait estimates occurred when the same items were used to model ERS and the trait, though the ERS dimension in this approach only reflected scale-specific ERS, rather than a general ERS tendency.

With theoretical and empirical interest in narcissism growing, there is a need for brief measures of pathological narcissism that can be used more practically while assessing the construct comprehensively. Data from four samples (total n = 3,851) collected across two separate research groups and representing undergraduate, community, and clinical populations was used to establish the reliability, validity, and utility of the Brief-Pathological Narcissism Inventory (B-PNI). Item response theory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the best-performing 28 items from the original PNI and ensure that the B-PNI exhibited a factor structure consistent with the original PNI. Items were retained for all seven pathological narcissism facet scales. Additional results also support the criterion validity of the B-PNI, suggesting it can be used in place of the original PNI to assess the various facets of pathological narcissism effectively and without loss of information, which may enhance the ability of researchers to investigate pathological narcissism in future work.

Due to increased empirical interest in narcissism across the social sciences, there is a need for inventories that can be administered quickly while also reliably measuring both the agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism. In this study, we sought to validate the factor structure, provide representative descriptive data and reliability estimates, assess the reliability across the trait spectrum, and examine the nomological network of the short version of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ-S; Back et al., 2013). We used data from a large convenience sample (total N = 11,937) as well as data from a large representative sample (total N = 4,433) that included responses to other narcissism measures as well as related constructs, including the other Dark Triad traits, Big Five personality traits, and self-esteem. Confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory were used to validate the factor structure and estimate the reliability across the latent trait spectrum, respectively. Results suggest that the NARQ-S shows a robust factor structure and is a reliable and valid short measure of the agentic and antagonistic aspects of grandiose narcissism. We also discuss future directions and applications of the NARQ-S as a short and comprehensive measure of grandiose narcissism. (PsycINFO Database Record

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This study investigated the stability of extreme response style (ERS) and acquiescence response style (ARS) over a period of 8 years. ERS and ARS were measured with item sets drawn randomly from a large pool of items used in an ongoing German panel study. Latent-trait-state-occasion and latent-state models were applied to test the relationship between time-specific (state) response style behaviors and time-invariant trait components of response styles. The results show that across different random item samples, on average between 49% and 59% of the variance in the state response style factors was explained by the trait response style factors. This indicates that the systematic differences respondents show in their preferences for certain response categories are remarkably stable over a period of 8 years. The stability of ERS and ARS implies that it is important to consider response styles in the analysis of self-report data from polytomous rating scales, especially in longitudinal studies aimed at investigating stability in substantive traits. Furthermore, the stability of response styles raises the question in how far they might be considered trait-like latent variables themselves that could be of substantive interest.

Response biases comprise a variety of systematic tendencies of responding to questionnaire items. Response biases exert an influence on item responses in addition to any constructs that the questionnaire is designed to measure and can therefore potentially bias the corresponding trait level estimates. This chapter addresses general response biases that are independent of item content, including response styles (e.g., extreme response style, acquiescence) and rater biases (halo effect, leniency/severity bias), as well as response biases that are related to item content and depend strongly on the context (socially desirable responding). The chapter summarizes research on correlates of response biases and research on inter-individual and cross-cultural differences in engaging in response styles and rater biases. It describes different methods that can be applied at the test construction stage to prevent or minimize the occurrence of response biases. Finally, it depicts methods developed for correcting for the effects of response biases.

Are recent cohorts of college students more narcissistic than their predecessors? To address debates about the so-called "narcissism epidemic," we used data from three cohorts of students (1990s: N = 1,166; 2000s: N = 33,647; 2010s: N = 25,412) to test whether narcissism levels (overall and specific facets) have increased across generations. We also tested whether our measure, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), showed measurement equivalence across the three cohorts, a critical analysis that had been overlooked in prior research. We found that several NPI items were not equivalent across cohorts. Models accounting for nonequivalence of these items indicated a small decline in overall narcissism levels from the 1990s to the 2010s ( d = -0.27). At the facet level, leadership ( d = -0.20), vanity ( d = -0.16), and entitlement ( d = -0.28) all showed decreases. Our results contradict the claim that recent cohorts of college students are more narcissistic than earlier generations of college students.

We investigated the development of narcissistic admiration (i.e., the assertive or extraverted dimension of narcissism; Back et al., 2013) and Machiavellianism (Mach) in early adulthood. Specifically, we examined (a) mean-level changes in narcissistic admiration and Mach during early adulthood and (b) how studying economics and experiencing any of 30 life events were related to individual differences in changes in narcissistic admiration and Mach. We used longitudinal data from 2 cohorts of young adults in Germany (N1 = 4,962 and N2 = 2,572). The mean levels of narcissistic admiration remained stable over time. Life events analyses indicated that narcissistic admiration increased among people who experienced a positively evaluated change in their eating or sleeping habits, a positively evaluated romantic break-up, or a negatively evaluated failure on an important exam. The mean levels of Mach decreased during early adulthood in both cohorts. Life events analyses showed that Mach decreased for only the 91% of young adults who had started a new job and evaluated it positively, suggesting that mastering occupational roles mitigates Mach in early adulthood. The results will be discussed in the light of previous longitudinal studies on narcissism and the Big Five and cross-sectional studies on how age is related to narcissism and Mach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).