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Swearing uses language forms that are taboo and potentially offensive. These are often used for emotional expression. Multilingual research shows that because the first language retains most emotional force (Dewaele [2004]. "The Emotional Force of Swearwords and Taboo Words in the Speech of Multilinguals." "Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development" 25 (2/3): 204-219; Pavlenko [2012]. "Affective Processing in Bilingual Speakers: Disembodied Cognition?" International Journal of Psychology 47 (6): 405-428), it is often the language of choice for swearing. Furthermore, swearing frequency and language preference are associated with different personality traits (Dewaele [2017a]. "Self-Reported Frequency of Swearing in English: Do Situational, Psychological and Socio-Biographical Variables Have Similar Effects on First and Foreign Language Users?" "Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development" 38 (4): 330-345). This study draws together these multilingualism research areas to investigate Persian immigrants' language choice for swearing, with reference to personality traits and socio-biographical factors, and in light of the Iranian cultural context. A mixed methods approach was adopted combining questionnaire and interview data. 204 Persian-English multilinguals residing outside Iran participated. Key findings revealed nuanced gender and personality dimensions. Specifically, women with higher Social Initiative (Extraversion) used English swearwords more frequently than Persian swearwords. Men who showed lower Emotional Stability (high Neuroticism) used Persian swearwords more frequently than English swearwords. There was also a positive relation between frequency of the use of Persian/English, self-rated knowledge in Persian/English, and Cultural Empathy and Open-mindedness. Semi-structured interviews provided deeper insight into these language choices. The study highlights how language preferences for swearing are shaped by both personality and socio-biographical factors in complex and nuanced ways.

The majority of the research examining children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Williams Syndrome (WS) focus on the social domain while few have examined cognitive style and emotionality. Accordingly, this current study assessed the day-to-day cognitive and behavioral functioning of school-age children with ASD, WS, and neurotypical development (ND) through caregiver-report inventories to further delineate commonalities and disparities in cognitive and social-emotional traits. Two caregiver-report inventories, the Children's Behavior Questionnaire and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire were employed to assess the day-to-day functioning of children ages 7-14 years. Participants included 64 caregivers of children, of these, 25 were caregivers of children with high functioning autism (HFA), 14 with WS, and 25 with ND. Multivariate analysis of covariance was computed to assess between-group differences for each subscale within a questionnaire. Covariates included age and full-scale IQ. For cognitive traits, group differences were observed across two categories while seven were present within the social-emotional categories. The majority of the group effects reflected differences in social-emotional traits between ND and both neurodevelopmental groups, while limited distinctions were found between the two clinical groups. This brief report provides additional evidence that HFA and WS may show similarities in cognitive traits but more divergent social-emotional tendencies, despite controlling for age and intellect. This study highlights the large social-emotional differences that supports prior phenotypic descriptions of both neurodevelopmental groups. Future research in these domains are needed to determine focused interventions to address social impairment.

Building on recommendations from several of the articles in the special section on conscientiousness in the June 2014 issue of "Developmental Psychology," the present study tested predictions from the interactionist model (IM) of socioeconomic influences on individual development. In an approach consistent with the idea of cumulative advantage, the model proposed that adolescent and child conscientiousness would be fostered by higher family socioeconomic status (SES) and the parenting and material investments that SES promotes. The IM also predicted a transactional process in which adolescent conscientiousness would promote future socioeconomic success which, in turn, would foster greater adult conscientiousness. Analyses with a cohort of 347 adolescents followed for over 20 years were largely consistent with these predictions, although the findings suggested some modifications to the IM, including the addition of a stronger direct role for family processes in eventual social and economic outcomes. Moreover, additional analyses with 282 of the children of these cohort members demonstrated that this same process was partially replicated in the next generation of children. The findings suggest reciprocal or transactional influences that promote conscientiousness and accumulating personal, economic, and social advantages over time and generations.

Introduction: Children's behavior is influenced by parenting. This study aimed to assess the effect of the Parents Raising Safe Kids (ACT) program on parenting practices among parents with children between 3 and 5 years of age. Method: The study consists of a quasi-experimental design, and it used a sample of 65 parents between the ages of 21 and 43 years, of which 18 constituted the study group and 27 made up the control group. The Parenthood Questionnaire (MPQ) and the Multifactorial Survey of Indicators (MICS) were the instruments used for the assessment before and after the program, respectively. Results: The results reveal that the post-test scores in the experimental group were higher than the pre-test scores, demonstrating the effect of the ACT program at a statistical and practical level in the parenting practices of monitoring, discipline, verbal punishment, communication, and physical punishment (p < 0.05). Discussion and conclusions. The ACT program was able to improve parenting practices for parents with children aged 3-5. Thus, we suggest the implementation of the program analyzed to improve parenting to raise children who demonstrate appropriate behaviors when relating to others.

The role of personality in specialty choices of speech-language pathology (SLP) students was examined. Specialty choices were obtained using a demographic questionnaire, and personality was measured with the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) in an electronic survey. The personalities of SLP students were compared to students in nine educational majors using Hotelling's T[superscript 2]-test analyses. Multivariate analyses of variance were conducted to evaluate the effects of the 11 primary personality traits on age and setting choice. SLP students were found to significantly differ from the nine examined majors in the MPQ primary traits--social potency, alienation, aggression, harm avoidance, and control. Students were found to be organized, trusting of peers, nonaggressive, and harm avoidant when compared to other student groups. Personality traits did not significantly contribute to age or facility choice, and the degree of variance in the responses may indicate that a variety of personality types can thrive within the field.

Most study samples show less variability in key variables than do their source populations due most often to indirect selection into study participation associated with a wide range of personal and circumstantial characteristics. Formulas exist to correct the distortions of population-level correlations created. Formula accuracy has been tested using simulated normally distributed data, but empirical data are rarely available for testing. We did so in a rare data set in which it was possible: the 6-Day Sample, a representative subsample of 1,208 from the Scottish Mental Survey 1947 of cognitive ability in 1936-born Scottish schoolchildren (70,805). 6-Day Sample participants completed a follow-up assessment in childhood and were re-recruited for study at age 77 years. We compared full 6-Day Sample correlations of early-life variables with those of the range-restricted correlations in the later-participating subsample, before and after adjustment for direct and indirect range restriction. Results differed, especially for two highly correlated cognitive tests; neither reproduced full-sample correlations well due to small deviations from normal distribution in skew and kurtosis. Maximum likelihood estimates did little better. To assess these results' typicality, we simulated sample selection and made similar comparisons using the 42 cognitive ability tests administered to the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart, with very similar results. We discuss problems in developing further adjustments to offset range-restriction distortions and possible approaches to solutions.

Parent-child conversations about shared events may facilitate important aspects of psychosocial development through the family's references to emotions. Although past research has begun examining features of speakers and topics that predict emotion talk in these conversations, the potential contribution of personality traits has been overlooked. The current study investigated whether parental personality and participant gender were related to emotion talk during conversations between parents and their 5-year-old children. Results revealed discussion differences as a function of gender and discussion topic. Moreover, higher levels of trait Social Closeness in mothers corresponded to their richer emotional talk during discussions, particularly when conversing with daughters.

This article examines the impact of bullying between age 13 and 16 years on negative outcomes at age 17 years, taking into account various resilience factors at the individual, family, and community level. Using longitudinal data from the Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime, a prospective cohort study of around 4,300 young people in Scotland, the impact of bullying perpetration on later engagement in violence and the impact of bullying victimization on later psychological distress are modeled. The analysis finds significant resilience factors, which reduce violence and psychological distress in late adolescence; however, even when controlling for such factors, both bullying perpetration and bullying victimization are strongly predictive of later negative outcomes. The findings support policy responses that implement early and effective interventions within schools to both prevent bullying and improve individual resilience to its long-term effects.

Prediction of academic success at postsecondary institutions is an enduring issue for educational psychology. Traditional measures of high-school grade point average and high-stakes entrance examinations are valid predictors, especially of 1st-year college grades, yet a large amount of individual-differences variance remains unaccounted for. Studies of individual trait measures (e.g., personality, self-concept, motivation) have supported the potential for broad predictors of academic success, but integration across these approaches has been challenging. The current study tracks 589 undergraduates from their 1st semester through attrition or graduation (up to 8 years beyond their first semester). Based on an integrative trait-complex approach to assessment of cognitive, affective, and conative traits, patterns of facilitative and impeding roles in predicting academic success were predicted. We report on the validity of these broad trait complexes for predicting academic success (grades and attrition rates) in isolation and in the context of traditional predictors and indicators of domain knowledge (Advanced Placement [AP] exams). We also examine gender differences and trait complex by gender interactions for predicting college success and persistence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Inclusion of trait-complex composite scores and average AP exam scores raised the prediction variance accounted for in college grades to 37%, a marked improvement over traditional prediction measures. Math/Science Self-Concept and Mastery/Organization trait complex profiles were also found to differ between men and women who had initial STEM major intentions but who left STEM for non-STEM majors. Implications for improving selection and identification of students at-risk for attrition are discussed.

This study examined parent characteristics as correlates of coparenting behavior in 57 primiparous couples. Parents' negative emotionality and perceptions of maternal acceptance in childhood, mothers' beliefs about fathers' roles, and observed marital behavior and family socioeconomic status were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy, and coparenting behavior was observed at 3.5 months postpartum. Couples who exhibited high-quality marital interaction showed higher supportive coparenting behavior, but couples who showed lower quality marital interaction demonstrated higher supportive coparenting behavior when mothers held more progressive beliefs about fathers' roles. Couples showed more undermining coparenting behavior when family socioeconomic status was lower and when fathers were higher on negative emotionality. Greater perceived maternal acceptance in childhood was only associated with lower levels of undermining behavior when prenatal marital interaction was high in quality. Thus, the characteristics of both parents, especially in combination with preexisting marital behavior, are important determinants of coparenting behavior. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

Personality traits are known to be associated with a host of important life outcomes, including interpersonal dysfunction. The interpersonal circumplex offers a comprehensive system for articulating the kinds of interpersonal problems associated with personality traits. In the current study, traits as measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire in a sample of 124 young women were correlated with interpersonal dysfunction as measured by the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems--Circumplex. Results suggest that Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire traits vary in their associations with interpersonal distress and in their coverage of specific kinds of interpersonal difficulties among women undergoing the transition to adulthood. (Contains 1 table and 5 figures.)

In the present study, the authors explored the meaning of low scores on the MMPI-2/MMPI-2-RF Restructured Clinical (RC) scales. Using responses of a sample of university students (N = 811), the authors examined whether low (T less than 39), within-normal-limits (T = 39-64), and high (T greater than 65) score levels on the RC scales are differentially associated with Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)-defined personality descriptions. Eleven primary MPQ scales and three higher order MPQ scales (Negative Emotionality, Positive Emotionality, and Constraint) were used to yield these descriptions. MANOVAs were conducted for each RC scale and followed up by univariate ANOVAs and post hoc Dunnett T3 tests to identify reliable RC-scale-defined group differences for the individual MPQ scales. For those cases that exhibited significant differences between the low and within-normal subgroups on the Dunnett T3 tests, effect sizes were computed. The authors identified and discussed meaningful MPQ-based personality characteristics of the low scoring subjects. (Contains 3 tables.)

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 trained coders rated videotapes of each task for the same emotions. Consistent with studies using other designs, maternal reports demonstrated weak to moderate convergence with the other rating methods. Extending prior research, a number of maternal characteristics (particularly lifetime psychiatric diagnoses and personality traits) were associated with their reports of child emotions in the lab, above and beyond the effects of objective coding and observer reports of child emotions. For some emotions, mothers' mental health and dispositional variables were more strongly related to their reports of the child's emotions than were objective indices of the child's observable emotional behavior. (Contains 4 tables.)

This study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; Clark, 1996) in 280 individuals who screened positive for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The SNAP validity, trait, temperament, and personality disorder (PD) scales were compared with scales on the Brief Form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Patrick, Curtin, & Tellegen, 2002). In a subsample of 86 veterans, the SNAP PD, trait, and temperament scales were also evaluated in comparison to the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE; Loranger, 1999), a semistructured diagnostic interview. Results revealed that the SNAP scales have good convergent validity, as evidenced by their pattern of associations with related measures of personality and PD. However, evidence for their discriminant validity in relationship to other measures of personality and PD was more mixed, and test scores on the SNAP trait and temperament scales left much unexplained variance in IPDE-assessed PDs. The diagnostic scoring of the SNAP PD scales greatly inflated prevalence estimates of PDs relative to the IPDE and showed poor agreement with the IPDE. In contrast, the dimensional SNAP scores yielded far stronger associations with continuous scores on the IPDE. The SNAP scales also largely evidenced expected patterns of association with a measure of PTSD severity. Overall, findings support the use of this measure in this population and contribute to our conceptualization of the association between temperament, PTSD, and Axis II psychopathology. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

In this article, the separate literatures of a neurobiologically based approach system and vocational interests are reviewed and integrated into a social neuroscientific model of the processes underlying interests, based upon the idea of selective approach motivation. The authors propose that vocational interests describe the types of stimuli that activate the approach system for a particular individual and provide empirical evidence for this model by relating measures associated with approach motivation with measures of vocational interests. The results support the hypothesis that vocational interests are shaped by distinct facets of the approach system. (Contains 4 figures.)

Although large epidemiological data sets can inform research on the etiology and development of borderline personality disorder (BPD), they rarely include BPD measures. In some cases, however, proxy measures can be constructed using instruments already in these data sets. In this study, the authors developed and validated a self-report measure of BPD from the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Items for the new instrument--the Minnesota BPD scale (MBPD)--were identified and refined using three large samples: undergraduates, community adolescent twins, and urban substance users. The authors determined the construct validity of the MBPD scale by examining its association with (a) diagnosed BPD, (b) questionnaire-reported BPD symptoms, and (c) clinical variables associated with BPD: suicidality, trauma, disinhibition, internalizing distress, and substance use. The authors also tested the MBPD scale in two prison inmate samples. Across samples, the MBPD scores correlated with BPD indices and external criteria and showed incremental validity above measures of negative affect, thus supporting its construct validity as a measure of BPD. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

The structure of the Hypomanic Personality Scale was explored in a sample of young adults (N = 884); resulting structures were validated on subsamples with measures of personality traits, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing behaviors. Hierarchical cluster analysis and estimates of general factor saturation suggested the presence of a weak general factor, as well as 3 subordinate clusters. The 3-cluster subscales (Social Vitality, Mood Volatility, and Excitement) were moderately correlated but conceptually distinct and were correlated in opposing patterns with a range of personality and psychopathology measures. Results show that cluster subscales suppress total score associations with validity measures. Recommendations are made to analyze Hypomanic Personality Scale data by subscale, and theoretical implications are discussed. (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables and 4 footnotes.)

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of personality traits measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; [Tellegen, 2000] and [Tellegen and Waller, 2008]) in selecting educational majors. Personality traits were examined alone, and with the combination of Holland's hexagonal confidence domains, as measured by the general confidence themes (GCT) of the Skills Confidence Inventory (SCI; Betz, Borgen, & Harmon, 2005), and Holland's interest domains, as measured by the general occupational themes (GOTs) of the 2005 Strong Interest Inventory (SII; Donnay, Morris, Schaubhut, & Thompson, 2005). Personality traits significantly contributed to the discrimination of nine educational major families in a sample of 368 undergraduate decided students. When the set of confidence and interest scales was added to the personality traits, the conservative jack knife hit rate was almost doubled. (Contains 4 tables.)

Using meta-analysis, we revised Ackerman and Heggestad's (1997) identification of four trait complexes that propose personality and interest (P-I) linkages. Studies that had reported correlations between general and specific measures of vocational interests (Strong Interest Inventory [Strong; Hansen & Campbell, 1985; Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994]) and personality (Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire [MPQ: Tellegen, 1982, 2000; Tellegen & Waller, in press]) were located. These meta-analysis was based on 2,023 people from five databases including gifted adolescents, college students, and adult career clients. The substantive P-I correlations ranged from |.20| to |.49|--reflecting between 4% and 24% shared variance. Within the Science/Math complex, we found Harmavoidance to be negatively linked with Realistic and Science interests and Achievement to be positively linked with Investigative, Math, and Science interests. Within the Intellectual/Cultural complex, Absorption was related to general and specific Artistic interests. Within the Social complex, Social and Enterprising interests were differentiated based on the former being related positively to Wellbeing and negatively to Aggression and the latter being related positively to Social Potency. Sex was not found to be a substantial moderator of P-I correlations. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

This study tested differences in personality traits measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) in a community sample of adolescents with definite or probable conduct disorder (CD) diagnoses that did not progress to a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) by early adulthood (n=43), those with definite or probable ASPD that persisted into early adulthood (n=68), or controls with neither a CD nor an ASPD diagnosis (n=716) to examine whether antisocial behaviour disorders that differed in course were associated with differences in personality traits. As expected, boys and girls with ASPD were significantly different from controls on constraint, and those with ASPD were significantly lower on constraint than those with only CD. The results suggest that individual differences in certain personality traits may contribute to differences in the type of antisocial behaviour disorder that emerges and thereby to the course of antisocial behaviour.

Although personality is viewed as a precursor to self-efficacy and interest development (e.g., Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994), little research concerns linkages between personality and self-efficacy. This article bridges the relation by presenting the pattern of findings across four university samples. Three general and 11 specific personality traits were operationalized using Tellegens Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Tellegen, 1982, 2000; Tellegen & Waller, in press). Vocational self-efficacy across Hollands hexagon (i.e., Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional domains) was operationalized using the Skills Confidence Inventory (Betz, Borgen, & Harmon, 1996, 2005). Most of the contributions of personality to vocational confidence were with Positive Emotional Temperament and its related primary traits. Moreover, these same personality traits were also related to the elevation of a persons profile overall (mean confidence level). Finally, Absorption, affiliated with both Positive and Negative Emotional Temperament, contributed to Artistic confidence whereas Harmavoidance (-) partially explained Realistic confidence. (Contains 2 tables.)

The influence of personality and childhood abuse on suicidal behaviors and psychopathy was examined among female prisoners. Scores on the affective/interpersonal component (Factor 1; F1) and the antisocial deviance (Factor 2; F2) component of psychopathy were obtained from the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (R. D. Hare, 1991). Suicide attempt and childhood physical and sexual abuse history were coded from interviews and prison files, and personality was assessed using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (A. Tellegen, in press). Suicide attempts were positively associated with F2 and negatively associated with F1, and each factor accounted for unique variance in suicidality. Path analyses demonstrated that personality mediated the effects of physical abuse on F2, but sexual abuse accounted for unique variance in both suicide attempts and F2. Abuse and personality accounted for minimal variance in F1. These results are discussed in relation to the identification of individuals at risk for both self- and other-harm behaviors.

Replication of Larson and Borgen's study with a college sample (n=200) who completed the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) and Strong Interest Inventory (SII) supported hypothesis that specific MPQ scales contribute significantly to prediction of SII basic interest scales. Results confirm that specific interests are related to specific personality dimensions. (Contains 40 references.) (SK)

A study of 323 gifted adolescents explored the convergence of vocational interests and personality as measured by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) and NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. The strongest convergence occurred at more specific levels--the 30 facet levels of NEO and 11 primary scales of MPQ. Convergence of Holland's six-factor model and the Five-Factor Model was supported. (Contains 41 references.) (SK)

A computer-administered (CA) form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) (A. Tellegen, 1982) was created, and scores of 126 college students were compared to those of 101 who took a paper-and-pencil MPQ. Multivariate analyses found no group differences for the CA format, and likelihood of profile validity was decreased. Results support CA MPQ use. (SLD)

The structural and external validity of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) and the relations among TPQ lower-order and higher-order scales and those of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire were examined. Results for 1,236 adults support the TPQ's validity but indicate its failure to operationalize portions of the Biosocial Learning Model. (TJH)

The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) was parameterized using the 2-parameter logistic item response (IRT) model. Two samples of 1,000 adults were used. Results suggest that the 2-parameter model fits the MPQ data, and researchers assessing normal-range personality processes have much to gain from exploiting IRT models. (TJH)

Comments on the article by E. Diener, R. E. Lucas, and C. N. Scollon (see record 2006-05893-003) which cited a study by Tellegen et al. in which the Well-Being scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), administered to 44 pairs of monozygotic reared-apart (MZA) twins, yielded a within-pair correlation of 0.48. I contend that, in their subsequent proposed changes to subjective well-being (SWB) theory, Diener et al. failed to incorporate the implications of this heritability.

The triarchic model of psychopathy emphasizes the role of three phenotypic personality domains (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) that have been operationalized using the well-established Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. The present study sought to further validate the MPQ-Tri scales and examine their temporal stability and predictive validity across two time points (ages 18 and 26) from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a population-representative and longitudinal sample (N = 1,037). This investigation necessitated modification of the MPQ-Tri scales to enable their use in a broader range of samples, including the Dunedin Study. The revised MPQ-Tri scales demonstrated good temporal stability, and correlation and multiple linear regression analyses predominantly revealed associations consistent with theoretical expectations. Overall, the findings provide support for the MPQ-Tri scales as reliable, stable, and valid measures of the triarchic constructs, which provide a unique opportunity to examine highly novel research questions concerning psychopathy in a wide variety of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guidelines for screening public safety personnel candidates, including law enforcement positions, incorporate the use of separate psychological tests for assessing normal and abnormal functioning. We evaluated the incremental validity of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)—a measure of normal personality traits—beyond the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF), a measure of psychopathology, using a sample of 1,687 candidates for law enforcement positions. They were clinically rated on 10 psychological suitability dimensions. For a subset of those who were subsequently hired as police officers (n = 397), we also had post-hire outcome data. Using hierarchical nonlinear regression analyses, we found that the MPQ scales incremented the MMPI-2-RF scales in the prediction of 17 of 19 variables in this study. Our results indicate that the MPQ, as a measure of normal personality, provides unique information about psychological suitability and predicts negative post-hire outcomes in police candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A well-validated test of normal personality functioning is necessary in preemployment evaluations of candidates for public safety positions. In this study, we evaluated the construct validity and predictive validity of one such measure, the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), in a large sample of candidates for law enforcement positions. We examined associations between MPQ scale scores and biographical data, clinician suitability ratings on the 10 established California Commission on Peace Officer and Standards and Training (POST) psychological screening dimensions, and (for a subsample) posthire performance outcome data. MPQ scores generally demonstrated a conceptually expected pattern of associations with criterion variables, supporting their construct validity. Scores related to negative emotionality were particularly salient predictors of a range of POST-10 suitability ratings. Scales assessing aspects of positive emotionality, impulsivity, as well as absorption, emerged as the best predictors of posthire performance problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inconsistency scales represent a promising method for separating valid and invalid personality profiles. In a sample of 1,258 participants in the waiting room of the emergency department of an urban university hospital, we examined whether data from participants with profiles flagged as invalid (n = 132) using the Variable Response Inconsistency (VRIN) or True Response Inconsistency (TRIN) scales of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire's brief form (MPQ-BF) differed from those that did not exceed any validity cutoffs (n = 1,026). Invalid profiles' scores on many scales were less internally consistent and had less variability than those from valid profiles, especially for random and acquiescent response styles. Scores on MPQ-BF primary trait scales from profiles featuring random responses appeared more psychologically maladjusted than those on valid profiles. Compared to primary trait scores on valid profiles, acquiescent profiles generally had higher scores, and counteracquiescent profiles had lower scores. The higher order component structure of invalid profiles was less consistent with published MPQ-BF component structures than that of valid profiles, though negative emotionality was generally reasonably well-preserved. Scores on primary traits associated with negative emotionality generally had larger correlations with demographic criteria for valid profiles than invalid profiles. These results argue that inconsistency scales meaningfully identify invalid profiles in normal-range personality assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychopathy as conceptualized by the triarchic model encompasses three distinct dispositional constructs: boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. The current study sought to further validate triarchic (Tri) construct scales composed of items from the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) as a foundation for advancing research on the etiology of psychopathy using existing large-scale longitudinal studies. MPQ-Tri scales were examined in three samples: mixed-gender undergraduate students (N = 346), male offenders from a residential substance abuse treatment facility (N = 190), and incarcerated female offenders (N = 216). Across these three samples, the MPQ-Tri scales demonstrated high internal consistency and clear convergent and discriminant associations with criterion measures of psychopathy and other psychopathology outcomes. Gender comparisons revealed relatively few differences in relationships with criterion measures. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for further investigation of the causal bases of psychopathy and other forms of psychopathology utilizing data from large etiologically informative studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previous study demonstrated that the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) scales are highly robust and can be recaptured when the items (True/False format) are embedded in a large and diverse pool of individual difference items. We called this scale robustness test the “recaptured scale technique”. Those results strongly supported the exploratory scale construction technique used to create the MPQ. This study generalizes our earlier findings by demonstrating that the 11 MPQ constructs are also highly robust—as evaluated by the recaptured scale technique—and also can be recovered when they are measured by self-rated (5 point scale) adjectives or brief descriptors. Specifically, using data from a large sample of participants of the Minnesota Twin Registry ( N = 3968), we factor analyzed the 63-item Minnesota Personality Self-Rating Scales and recovered 17 interpretable factors, 11 of which strongly resembled the 11 MPQ primary scales. The 11 recovered scales were scored on a new data set from the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA) ( N = 310) and shown to have high convergent and discriminant validity. These recovered scales were also shown to have a factor structure similar to that of the MPQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tellegen and Waller advocated a complex and time-consuming scale construction method that they called “exploratory test construction.” Scales that are constructed by this method—such as the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)—are presumed to be more “psychologically coherent” and “robust” than scales constructed by other means. Using a novel procedure that we call the “recaptured scale technique,” we tested this conjecture by conducting a megafactor analysis on data from the 411 adult participants of the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart who completed the MPQ, the MMPI, and the CPI. We extracted and obliquely rotated 21 factors from a matrix of gender-corrected tetrachoric correlations for the 1,102 nonredundant items of the three omnibus inventories. Robustness of the 11 MPQ scales was assessed by the degree to which these factors recaptured the MPQ item groupings. Our results showed that nine factors were clearly recognizable as MPQ scales and two additional factors represented a bifurcation of an MPQ scale. A higher-order factor analysis of all 21 factor scales yielded five factors that clearly resembled the Big Five. Our results provide strong support for (a) the method of exploratory test construction, (b) the structural robustness of most MPQ scales, and (c) the utility of the recaptured scale technique. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Psychopathy is conceptualized by the triarchic model as encompassing 3 distinct phenotypic constructs: boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. In the current study, the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), a normal-range personality measure, was evaluated for representation of these 3 constructs. Consensus ratings were used to identify MPQ items most related to each triarchic (Tri) construct. Scale measures were developed from items indicative of each construct, and scores for these scales were evaluated for convergent and discriminant validity in community (N = 176) and incarcerated samples (N = 240). Across the 2 samples, MPQ-Tri scale scores demonstrated good internal consistencies and relationships with criterion measures of various types consistent with predictions based on the triarchic model. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for further investigation of the triarchic model constructs in preexisting datasets that include the MPQ, in particular longitudinal and genetically informative datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) is a widely used personality assessment instrument informing lower- and higher-order personality dimensions. Despite recent developments of brief (MPQ-BF) and simplified wording (MPQ-SF) forms, there is relatively little work on the utility and validity of the MPQ in younger samples with lower reading levels. This study is the first to assess the reliability, factor structure, and criterion validity of the MPQ-SF in a sample of treatment-referred mid-adolescents (N = 105; 12-17 years). Results suggest adequate reliabilities for most of the lower-order primary scales and support a three-factor structure of the MPQ-SF, consistent with previous research with adult and college-aged samples. However, there were also notable cross-loadings for particular scales, which we discuss in relation to the four-factor MPQ model and the Five Factor Model of Personality. Relationships between MPQ personality dimensions and psychopathology using youth, parent, and clinician-rated psychopathology indices supported criterion-related validity. Together, these results confirm the utility of the MPQ in youth with treatment histories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) assesses a range of personality characteristics pertaining to affective and interpersonal style, behavioral restraint versus disinhibition, and capacity for sensory and imaginal engagement. Its 11 lower order trait scales map onto 3 higher order factors that reflect temperament dimensions. Its content and measurement properties have made the MPQ useful for elucidating constructs relevant to normal and abnormal behavior and investigating their neurobiological underpinnings. However, a barrier to its use in certain populations is the reading difficulty of some MPQ items. We describe efforts to develop a simplified-wording form, the MPQ-SF, composed of items readable at or below the seventh grade level (with most below sixth grade). Simplified-wording items demonstrated high convergence with original-wording items, and resulting trait scales showed adequate internal consistencies and appropriate higher order structure. The availability of a simplified version expands the potential utility of the MPQ to a wider range of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: We evaluated whether the Big Five-based hierarchical model for the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) reported by would replicate in a second sample of 733 participants. We were unable to confirm their hierarchical model and detected problems with the reporting of the original results. Exploratory factor analytic investigations generally supported the canonical three factor solution for the MPQ described in the existing literature. This was the case for both the present dataset and for the correlation matrix analyzed by Rushton and Irwing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; Clark, 1996) in 280 individuals who screened positive for posttranmatic stress disorder (PTSD). The SNAP validity, trait, temperament, and personality disorder (PD) scales were compared with scales on the Brief Form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Patrick, Curtin, & Tellegen, 2002). In a subsample of 86 veterans, the SNAP PD, trait, and temperament scales were also evaluated in comparison to the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE; Loranger, 1999), a semistructured diagnostic interview. Results revealed that the SNAP scales have good convergent validity, as evidenced by their pattern of associations with related measures of personality and PD. However, evidence for their discriminant validity in relationship to other measures of personality and PD was more mixed, and test scores on the SNAP trait and temperament scales left much unexplained variance in IPDE-assessed PDs. The diagnostic scoring of the SNAP PD scales greatly inflated prevalence estimates of PDs relative to the IPDE and showed poor agreement with the IPDE. In contrast, the dimensional SNAP scores yielded far stronger associations with continuous scores on the IPDE. The SNAP scales also largely evidenced expected patterns of association with a measure of PTSD severity. Overall, findings support the use of this measure in this population and contribute to our conceptualization of the association between temperament, PTSD, and Axis II psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]