A Five-Factor Measure of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Traits.

The current study provides convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity data for the Five-Factor Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (FFOCI), a newly-developed measure of traits relevant to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) from the perspective of the five-factor model (FFM). Twelve scales were constructed as maladaptive variants of specific FFM facets (e.g., Perfectionism as a maladaptive variant of FFM competence). On the basis of data from 407 undergraduates (oversampled for OCPD symptoms) these 12 scales demonstrated convergent correlations with established measures of OCPD and the FFM. Further, they obtained strong discriminant validity with respect to facets from other FFM domains. Most importantly, the individual scales and total score of the FFOCI obtained incremental validity beyond existing measures of the FFM and OCPD for predicting a composite measure of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology. The findings support the validity of the FFOCI as a measure of obsessive-compulsive personality traits, as well as of maladaptive variants of the FFM

Investigating knowledge management factors affecting Chinese ICT firms performance: An integrated KM framework

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in the Journal of Information Systems Management, 28(1), 19 - 29, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10580530.2011.536107.This article sets out to investigate the critical factors of Knowledge Management (KM) which are considered to have an impact on the performance of Chinese information and communication technology (ICT) firms. This study confirms that the cultural environment of an enterprise is central to its success in the context of China. It shows that a collaborated, trusted, and learning environment within ICT firms will have a positive impact on their KM performance

Environmental Dependence of the Structure of Brightest Cluster Galaxies

We measure the Petrosian structural properties of 33 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) at redshifts z<0.1 in X-ray selected clusters with a wide range of X-ray luminosities. We find that some BCGs show distinct signatures in their Petrosian profiles, likely to be due to cD haloes. We also find that BCGs in high X-ray luminosity clusters have shallower surface brightness profiles than those in low X-ray luminosity clusters. This suggests that the BCGs in high X-ray luminosity clusters have undergone up to twice as many equal-mass mergers in their past as those in low X-ray luminosity clusters. This is qualitatively consistent with the predictions of hierarchical structure formation.Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

An Examination of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory’s Nomological Network: A Meta-Analytic Review

Since its publication, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory and its revision (Lilien- feld & Andrews, 1996; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) have become increasingly popular such that it is now among the most frequently used self-report inventories for the assessment of psychopathy. The current meta-analysis examined the relations between the two PPI factors (factor 1: Fearless Dominance; factor 2: Self-Centered Impulsivity), as well as their relations with other validated measures of psychopathy, internalizing and externalizing forms of psychopathology, general personality traits, and antisocial personality disorder symptoms. Across 61 samples reported in 49 publications, we found support for the convergent and criterion validity of both PPI factor 2 and the PPI total score. Much weaker validation was found for PPI factor 1, which manifested limited convergent validity and a pattern of correlations with central criterion variables that was inconsistent with many conceptualizations of psychopathy

Which executive functioning deficits are associated with AD/HD, ODD/CD and comorbid AD/HD+ODD/CD?

Item does not contain fulltextThis study investigated (1) whether attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is associated with executive functioning (EF) deficits while controlling for oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD), (2) whether ODD/CD is associated with EF deficits while controlling for AD/HD, and (3)~whether a combination of AD/HD and ODD/CD is associated with EF deficits (and the possibility that there is no association between EF deficits and AD/HD or ODD/CD in isolation). Subjects were 99~children ages 6–12 years. Three putative domains of EF were investigated using well-validated tests: verbal fluency, working memory, and planning. Independent of ODD/CD, AD/HD was associated with deficits in planning and working memory, but not in verbal fluency. Only teacher rated AD/HD, but not parent rated AD/HD, significantly contributed to the prediction of EF task performance. No EF deficits were associated with ODD/CD. The presence of comorbid AD/HD accounts for the EF deficits in children with comorbid AD/HD+ODD/CD. These results suggest that EF deficits are unique to AD/HD and support the model proposed by R. A. Barkley (1997).17 p

The basic trait of Antagonism: An unfortunately underappreciated construct

Antagonism, the low pole of Agreeableness, references traits related to immorality, combativeness, grandiosity, callousness, and distrustfulness. It is a robust correlate of externalizing behaviors such as antisocial behavior, aggression, and substance use; in fact, in many cases, it is the strongest trait correlate. It represents the core of many important and impactful psychopathological constructs (e.g., psychopathy, antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders). It is also central to models of general and disordered personality, psychopathology, and interpersonal behavior. As Neuroticism is core to understanding the intense distress and suffering that comes with internalizing disorders, Antagonism is core to understanding the impairment and suffering (to the individual and society at large) that comes with externalizing disorders

Interpersonal and affective dimensions of psychopathic traits in adolescents : development and validation of a self-report instrument

We report the development and psychometric evaluations of a self-report instrument designed to screen for psychopathic traits among mainstream community adolescents. Tests of item functioning were initially conducted with 26 adolescents. In a second study the new instrument was administered to 150 high school adolescents, 73 of who had school records of suspension for antisocial behavior. Exploratory factor analysis yielded a 4-factor structure (Impulsivity α = .73, Self-Centredness α = .70, Callous-Unemotional α = .69, and Manipulativeness α = .83). In a third study involving 328 high school adolescents, 130 with records of suspension for antisocial behaviour, competing measurement models were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis. The superiority of a first-order model represented by four correlated factors that was invariant across gender and age was confirmed. The findings provide researchers and clinicians with a psychometrically strong, self-report instrument and a greater understanding of psychopathic traits in mainstream adolescents

Components of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy are nested within the Five-Factor Model

The triarchic model of psychopathy is a recently developed model of psychopathy that identifies three primary domains: Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition. These traits overlap substantially with general and pathological five-factor model of personality (Boldness = low Neuroticism + high Extraversion; Meanness = low Agreeableness; Disinhibition = low Conscientiousness). In the current study (total N = 1,266), we compare domains from the triarchic model of psychopathy and five-factor model in relation to self- and informant-report of external criteria (e.g., pathological traits, antisocial behavior), and quantified their absolute similarity using a profile-matching approach. The corresponding traits from these models show large interrelations and very similar convergent and divergent relations, suggesting that unaltered traits from one can be considered excellent representations of the other. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits of using a unifying trait-based model to study psychopathy, as well as personality disorders more broadly

The Goldwater Rule: Perspectives from, and implications for, psychological science

When, if ever, should psychological scientists be permitted to offer professional opinions concerning the mental health of public figures they have never directly examined? This contentious question, which attracted widespread public attention during the 1964 U.S. presidential election involving Barry Goldwater, received renewed scrutiny during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, when many mental health professionals raised pointed questions concerning the psychiatric status of Donald Trump. Although the Goldwater Rule prohibits psychiatrists from offering diagnostic opinions on individuals they have never examined, no comparable rule exists for psychologists. We contend that, owing largely to the Goldwater Rule’s origins in psychiatry, a substantial body of psychological research on assessment and clinical judgment, including work on the questionable validity of unstructured interviews, the psychology of cognitive biases, and the validity of informant reports and of L (lifetime) data, has been overlooked in discussions of its merits. We conclude that although the Goldwater Rule may have been defensible several decades ago, it is outdated and premised on dubious scientific assumptions. We further contend that there are select cases in which psychological scientists with suitable expertise may harbor a “duty to inform,” allowing them to offer informed opinions concerning public figures’ mental health with appropriate caveats

Examining the factor structure and validity of the triarchic model of psychopathy across measures

The triarchic model of psychopathy proposes 3 distinct trait domains underlying psychopathy: boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. The original (and most widely used) measure developed from this model is the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), which yields a total psychopathy score as well as scores on each of the 3 domains. Recently, researchers have derived several alternative measures from other inventories to assess these 3 domains; however, the purported underlying 3-factor structure of the alternative scales has been relatively untested. In the present study, 431 participants completed the TriPM and its alternative measures via Amazon Mechanical Turk, and items within the scales were subjected to a series of factor analyses. For all measures, fit indices for a 3-factor solution showed poor fit and indicated that the optimal factor solutions ranged between 5 and 7 factors. In addition, although some of the factor scores from the 3-factor solutions appeared to map onto the a priori domains of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition, others were equally correlated with meanness and disinhibition. The current results demonstrate the factor structures of the TriPM and its alternative measures are more complex than the proffered 3-factor solution, which calls into question the extent to which these adequately represent the underlying triarchic model