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The current study sought to provide evidence for a measure of schizoid personality disorder (SZD PD) traits using the Five-Factor Model framework of personality. In the first study, undergraduate participants (n = 496) completed the Five-Factor Schizoid Inventory (FFZI) and other self-report measures. The first half of the sample was used to develop the FFZI, while the second half was used to validate it. The FFZI demonstrated excellent internal consistency, convergent validity with measures of SZD PD and hypothesized IPIP-NEO facets, and discriminant validity with other PDs and non-hypothesized IPIP-NEO facets. The second study recruited MTurk participants (n = 181) and demonstrated preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the FFZI in an online, community sample. Ultimately, these data suggest that the FFZI is a useful measure of SZD PD and provide further evidence that SZD PD can be conceptualized as a maladaptive extension of introversion traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study examined the hierarchical structure of Conscientiousness across three large samples using item‐level analyses. Background: Conscientiousness is among the strongest predictors of individual differences in major life outcomes. Yet decades of work understanding the optimal lower‐order structure of Conscientiousness has not rectified the differences that remain among existing models and measures. To precisely measure its relations to major life outcomes, it is necessary to work toward a comprehensive, replicable conceptualization of the construct's structure. Methods: The present pre‐registered study used three samples (Ns = 446, 406, & 424) to explore the domain's latent structure with item‐level "bass‐ackward" factor analyses and evaluate the resulting structure's interpretability, parsimony, and replicability. Participants completed self‐report measures of Conscientiousness and criteria in its nomological network (e.g., FFM traits, externalizing behavior, disinhibitory traits; informant reports were collected as well). Results: The factor analyses identified five interpretable and replicable factors (i.e., deliberation, order, industriousness, self‐discipline, and dependability) using predominant measures of general personality. An additional factor (i.e., traditionalism) was introduced in the six‐factor solution when the item pool was expanded to include less widely used measures of general personality. Conclusion: The authors discuss the item composition of each factor, their relation to existing models and measures of the domain's structure, their association with relevant criteria, and the general implications of conceptualizing Conscientiousness using flexible, item‐level factor analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Dark" Triad (DT) refers to three personality constructs with ties to socially aversive behaviors: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. These constructs are commonly assessed via omnibus self-report inventories such as the Short Dark Triad (SD3) or the Dirty Dozen. Alternatively, researchers wishing to measure "dark" traits can compile stand-alone measures of each construct. Recently, the Five Factor Model Antagonistic Triad Measure (FFM ATM) was developed, which measures the DT from the perspective of the widely used Five Factor Model of personality. Initial validation studies indicated that the FFM ATM addresses common concerns with other omnibus inventories (e.g., allows for multifaceted examination of DT constructs). The current study tested the FFM ATM in relation to these other methods of measuring the DT (i.e., omnibus inventories and combinations of single-construct measures). Across three tests of validity (i.e., nomological network analysis, intraclass correlations, and incremental validity analyses), the FFM ATM showed favorable results and outperformed other measures of the DT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The present study examined the hierarchical structure of self‐reported fearlessness and compared this structure to external criterion measures. Background: Fearlessness is often discussed in relation to clinical and personality research. However, there is a paucity of research focusing on its empirical structure, in particular with self‐report measures. Method: Using a preregistered analytical approach, we employed Goldberg's 2006 "bass‐ackward" factor analysis on self‐reported trait fear and fearlessness items to uncover the hierarchical structure of the construct. The final sample consisted of 619 participants and 562 informants. Results: By assessing fit statistics and interpretability of the factors, we found a six‐factor model fit the data best. The six‐factor solution emerged as comprehensive and included components labeled Assertiveness, Low Anxiety, Sociability, Recklessness, Openness to Action, and Adventurousness. Criterion variables measuring boldness, fear, anxiety, psychopathy, basic personality traits, and impulsivity, were correlated with the factor scores at each factor level of the model. Conclusions The findings from this study elucidate how trait fearlessness unfolds at varying levels and how these factors relate to and diverge from various outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study explores the associations among narcissistic traits, interpersonal behaviors, and aggression using repeated, situation‐based measurement. We examine narcissism's relations with aggression across three levels of its theorized hierarchy (level 1: narcissism; level 2: grandiose vs. vulnerable narcissism; level 3: antagonism, agentic extraversion, and narcissistic neuroticism). Methods: Using an experience‐sampling approach, the current study examined the effects of narcissism and its finer‐grained components on daily affective experiences and aggressive behaviors in the context of interpersonal interactions. Data were collected from 477 undergraduate students who were instructed to complete four prompts a day for ten consecutive days. Results: Narcissism at the global construct level positively predicted multiple indices of episodic aggression (i.e., aggressive temper, aggressive urge, verbal aggression). At the dual‐dimension level, grandiose narcissism specifically predicted aggression, and then at the trifurcated level, interpersonal antagonism predicted aggression by itself and in interaction with event‐level negative affect. Negative affect consistently exhibited both within‐ and between‐person effects on aggression. Conclusion: In real‐life social interactions, narcissism dimensions differentially affect the way individuals experience social interactions and process negative affect, and thus in both research and clinical practice, narcissism is best assessed as a heterogeneous, multidimensional construct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many measures, varying in breadth and length, have been constructed to measure narcissism. In recent years, super-short forms have become popular in research settings. Although brief measures hold some advantages, their brevity can come at psychometric costs. Participants recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk (N = 473) completed long and brief narcissism measures and criterion measures in a randomized order. Short forms were examined and compared to long forms in terms of their completion times and psychometric properties. Generally, the short forms demonstrated adequate internal consistency, variable convergence with each other, mostly moderate to strong convergence with long forms, and appropriate convergence with external criteria. These findings suggest that some short forms may be used when efficiency of survey administration is particularly important without significant psychometric cost. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the brief measures and make recommendations for which to use depending on the priorities of a given study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Associations between dimensions of narcissism and aggression have been well-documented in Western samples. We aimed to generalize findings regarding the validity of one-, two- (Grandiose Narcissism, GN, and Vulnerable Narcissism, VN), and three-factor models (Agentic Narcissism, Agent; Neurotic Narcissism, Neuro; Antagonistic Narcissism, Antag) of narcissism and associations with aggression to Chinese offender and nonoffender samples. Methods: Our preregistered study used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a novel methodological approach, relative weights analysis (RWA) in an offender (N = 485) and a community (N = 578) sample from China to examine the generalizability of narcissism dimensions, and within-study meta-analysis using 9 samples (N = 3520, and 282 effect sizes) to examine links between narcissism dimensions and aggression. Results: The two-factor model replicated well across samples and three-factor model replicated moderately, with differences emerging for the structure of Antag in offenders. Narcissism was positively correlated with aggression, although associations varied across narcissism dimensions and types of aggression. Conclusion: The dimensional models of narcissism and associations with aggression generalized fairly well from Western to Chinese offender and nonoffender populations, although some potential differences worthy of consideration in future research and practice were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this preregistered study was to gather evidence on training and clinical experiences offered by clinical psychology doctoral programs on the treatment of antagonism-a construct from the personality and psychopathology literature that captures individual differences in aggressiveness, callousness, grandiosity, domineering, and manipulativeness. We surveyed current graduate students ( N = 376) in APA-accredited clinical psychology doctoral programs ( M age = 28.4; 83.2% female; 65.2% White) about their experiences in training and treatment of antagonistic patients (ANT-patients) as well as experiences with patients with predominant negative affect (NA; e.g., anxious and depressed). Students reported significantly less training to treat antagonism compared to NA (| ds | = 0.43-2.88), as well as lower rates of direct clinical experience, generally poorer treatment experiences, and stronger countertransference reactions (| ds | = 0.53-1.40). These discrepancies were especially large for adult-focused students compared to child/adolescent-focused students. In fact, adult-focused students reported a mean competency rating of M = 1.71, between the scalar points not competent at all (1) and a little bit competent (2). Overall, these results indicate a lack of training and competence to treat antagonism among current graduate students, especially adult-focused students. We believe the crux of this issue is a field-wide lack of robust empirical work on antagonism treatments (for adults). Moving forward, we implore researchers and funding agencies to help address this substantial gap, which is both an ethical and practical imperative. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Personality impairment is a core feature of personality disorders in both current (i.e., Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , fifth edition [ DSM-5 ] personality disorders, International Classification of Diseases ,11th revision personality disorders) and emerging (i.e., DSM-5' s alternative model of personality disorders) models of psychopathology. Yet, despite its importance within clinical nosology, attempts to identify its optimal lower-order structure have yielded inconsistent findings. Given its presence in diagnostic models, it is important to better understand its empirical structure across a variety of instantiations. To the degree that impairment is multifaceted, various factors may have different nomological networks and varied implications for assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. Therefore, participants were recruited from two large public universities in the present preregistered study ( N = 574) to explore the construct's structure with exploratory "bass-ackward" factor analyses at the item level. Participants completed over 250 items from six commonly used measures of personality dysfunction. Criterion variables in its nomological network were also collected (e.g., general and pathological personality traits, internalizing/externalizing behavior, and personality disorders) using both self- and informant-reports. These factor analyses identified four lower-order facets of impairment (i.e., negative self-regard, disagreeableness, intimacy problems, and lack of direction), all of which showed moderate to strong overlap with traits from both general and pathological models of personality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).