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48 Law & Hum. Behav. 1 (2024)

handle is hein.journals/lwhmbv48 and id is 1 raw text is: - IAMIRIA American 1 Ir ASYEOGICAL Psychology-Law AssoCIATION oit ASSOCIATION ~ Society Law and Human Behavior © 2024 American Psychological Association ISSN: 0147-7307 2024, Vol. 48, No. 1, 1-12 https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000552 Assessing Psychopathic Traits With the MMPI-3: Findings From Correctional, University, and Community Samples Dustin B. Wygant' and Martin Sellbom2 Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University 2 Department of Psychology, University of Otago Objective: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) instruments have a long history with respect to the assessment of psychopathic personality traits. The most recent version, the MMPI-3, should be in a good position to continue this tradition, and the aim of the current research was to evaluate its scales for this purpose. We examined, on the basis of previous research, how well conceptually relevant MMPI-3 scales mapped onto dominant contemporary psychopathy models: the traditional three-factor model and triarchic psychopathy model. Hypotheses: We hypothesized that MMPI-3 markers of internalizing would be negatively correlated with boldness, whereas broad and specific markers of externalizing proclivities would be associated with disinhibition and antisociality. We also hypothesized that egocentricity and callousness would be associated with MMPI-3 scales measuring various features of externalizing, interpersonal aggression/ antagonism, and grandiosity. Method: We used archival samples of male prison inmates (n = 452), community members with externalizing proclivities (n = 205), and university students (n = 645). These participants completed the Expanded Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. Results: Zero-order correlation analyses indicated support for many of our hypotheses across samples, with notable exceptions. Regression and dominance analyses yielded information about the most potent MMPI-3 predictors of each psychopathy domain, with consistency across the three samples. Boldness was associated with low scores on Emotional/Internalizing Dysfunction, Low Positive Emotions, Shyness, and Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism and high scores on Self-Importance and Dominance. For meanness and disinhibition, we found substantial overlap with MMPI-3 scales (e.g., Behavioral/Externalizing Dysfunction, Antisocial Behavior). Meanness was indicated by high Aggression, Cynicism, Aggressiveness, and Disaffiliativeness; disinhibition/antisociality was primarily marked by high Antisocial Behavior, Hypomanic Activation, Impulsivity, and Disconstraint; and Anger Proneness, Aggression, and Cynicism were secondary indicators. Conclusions: These findings provide support for using the MMPI-3 in clinical assessments to cormborate other sources of information regarding psychopathy as well as generate hypotheses for further consideration. Public Significance Statement Psychopathy is an important clinical construct in forensic and correctional settings. This research examined the validity of the MMPI-3, a frequently used personality test, in assessing psychopathic personality traits. The results showed how the MMPI-3 can be used to assess psychopathy in clinical and forensic psychology settings. Keywords: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3, psychopathy, construct validity Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000552.supp David DeMatteo served as Action Editor. Dustin B. Wygant https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1874-9821 Martin Sellbom https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2883-6163 Dustin B. Wygant and Martin Sellbom are paid consultants to the University of Minnesota Press, publisher of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3, and receive continuous research funding from the publisher. The authors thank Andrea Loucaides and a team of research assistants (Connor Lynch, Ashley Creasap, Keefe Maccarone, Alexis Bifro, Olivia Kastelic, Megan Whitman, Jacob Jarvis, Sarah Kline, Yanu Sou, Jessica Neundorf, and Elizabeth Fonte, who were under the supervision of Tracy Masterson) for their assistance in data collection. The University of Minnesota Press provided funding for all data collection for this article. The authors also thank the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the staff at Lorain Correctional Institute for allowing the research to take place in their facility. None of the opinions or conclusions expressed in this article reflect any official policy or position of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The authors also thank Neil McNaughton for his contributions to the community sample portion of this project. Dustin B. Wygant played a lead role in writing-original draft, a supporting role in formal analysis and writing-review and editing, and an equal role in conceptualization, data curation, funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, and project administration. Martin Sellbom played a lead role in formal analysis and writing-review and editing, a supporting role in writing-original draft, and an equal role in conceptuali- zation, data curation, funding acquisition, investigation, methodology, and project administration. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Martin Sellbom, Department of Psychology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. Email: martin.sellbom@otago.ac.nz Law and Human Behavior