Construct Validity of the MMPI–2–RF Triarchic Psychopathy Scales in Correctional and Collegiate Samples

Abstract

This study examined the MMPI-2-RF (Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008/2011) Triarchic Psychopathy scales recently developed by Sellbom et al. ( 2016 ) in 3 separate groups of male correctional inmates and 2 college samples. Participants were administered a diverse battery of psychopathy specific measures (e.g., Psychopathy Checklist-Revised [Hare, 2003 ], Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised [Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005 ], Triarchic Psychopathy Measure [Patrick, 2010 ]), omnibus personality and psychopathology measures such as the Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 2007 ) and Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol, 2012 ), and narrow-band measures that capture conceptually relevant constructs. Our results generally evidenced strong support for the convergent and discriminant validity for the MMPI-2-RF Triarchic scales. Boldness was largely associated with measures of fearless dominance, social potency, and stress immunity. Meanness showed strong relationships with measures of callousness, aggression, externalizing tendencies, and poor interpersonal functioning. Disinhibition exhibited strong associations with poor impulse control, stimulus seeking, and general externalizing proclivities. Our results provide additional construct validation to both the triarchic model and MMPI-2-RF Triarchic scales. Given the widespread use of the MMPI-2-RF in correctional and forensic settings, our results have important implications for clinical assessment in these 2 areas, where psychopathy is a highly relevant construct.

The Abbreviated Psychopathy Measure-2: associations with normal-range and maladaptive personality traits

“…The association of APM-2 Meanness with dangerous thrill-seeking as seen in this study is consistent with findings that the MMPI-2-RF (Ben-Porath & Tellgen, 2008) triarchic Meanness scale was significantly associated with a measure of risk taking (Kutchen et al, 2017), and MPQ-based Meanness was significantly associated with a sensation seeking scale (Brislin et al, 2017).…”

“…Hall et al (2014) found that PPI-Meanness and PPI-Disinhibition contributed equally to the prediction of MPQ Aggression in a regression analysis. Kutchen et al (2017) found the MMPI-2-RF Disinhibition scale, along with the Meanness scale, to be a significant predictor of measures of aggression. Further, Patrick (2018) notes, albeit with respect to violent offenders, that some persons display aggressive tendencies mostly as an expression of anger and weak restraint associated with disinhibition, while others display aggressive behavior primarily resulting from lack of sensitivity, a low level of social concern, and predatory goal seeking associated with meanness.…”

Examining the Association Between the MMPI-2-RF Triarchic Psychopathy Scales and Suicidality in a Criminal Defendant Sample

“…The MMPI-2-RF (Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2008/2011) was scored from MMPI-2 (Butcher et al, 2001) administrations, which has been supported empirically in this context (Tarescavage, Alosco, Ben-Porath, Wood, & Luna-Jones, 2015). To operationalize the triarchic model, we used the MMPI-2-RF Triarchic scales (Sellbom et al, 2016), which have been well validated in a range of university, community, and correctional samples (Anestis et al, 2018;Gottfried et al, 2019;Kutchen et al, 2017;Sellbom et al, 2016). Cronbach's alphas were .78 (male) and .81 (female) for Boldness, .80 and .81 for Meanness, and .72 and .68 for Disinhibition.…”

The Role of Arrest Risk Perception Formation in the Association Between Psychopathy and Aggressive Offending

“…Psychopathy is a clinical construct with substantial overlap with the personality characteristics of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Skeem et al, 2011). The construct has been validated using several factors across offending and nonoffending samples (Kutchen et al, 2017) and across cultures, including Europe and China (Seara-Cardoso et al, 2020; Shou et al, 2017). Psychopathic personality traits (PPTs), which encompass aspects of callous and unemotional traits, narcissism, and disinhibition, have been implicated in a host of detrimental developmental and life outcomes ranging from increased behavioral maladaptation to risk-seeking and offending behavior (Hare & Hart, 1993; Vaughn et al, 2008).…”