Similarities and differences among antisocial and psychopathic self-report inventories from the perspective of general personality functioning

There are currently many alternative self-report inventories for the assessment of antisocial and psychopathic personality traits. The hypothesis of the current study was that similarities and differences among them can be meaningfully understood with respect to their representation of common personality traits. The current study explored this hypothesis using as a point of comparison the Five Factor Model (FFM) of general personality functioning. Six self-report measures currently being used in antisocial and psychopathy research were administered, along with a self-report measure of the FFM. Differences were obtained across the six inventories with respect to how they related to the domains and facets of the FFM that were consistent with FFM models of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. Implications for the theoretical and clinical understanding of findings obtained with the respective inventories, and the personality disorder constructs they assess, are discussed.