Rebecca Davis Merritt

The Factor Structure of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory

In the first study, we administered the 40-item Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988) to 843 female and 843 male college students, most of whom were Euro-American, to comprehensively assess the NPI factor structure using confirmatory factor analysis. Initial exploratory common factor analyses (N = 724) revealed a 2-factor model (Leadership/Authority and Exhibitionism/Entitlement). Subsequently, we used confirmatory factor analysis in a separate sample (N = 724) to evaluate the Emmons (1987) 4-factor model, the Raskin and Terry (1988) 7-factor model, the Kubarych, Deary, and Austin (2004) 2- and 3-factor models, and our 2-factor model. Finally, we assessed construct validity by correlating the scale scores with the Five-factor model of personality in an independent sample (N = 238). The 2-factor models for the NPI we obtained in this study and by Kubarych et al. (2004) appeared to be the most parsimonious models, with both a good fit to the data and satisfactory internal consistency values; so they are recommended for use. However, additional NPI research is needed to rescale, modify, or omit several NPI items and develop gender-equivalent items.

Attribution of gender to a gender-unspecified individual : an evaluation of the people = male hypothesis

J. Silveira [(1980), “Generic Masculine Words and Thinking,” Womens Studies International Quarterly, Vol. 3, pp. 165–178] suggested that most individuals adopt a “people = male” bias evidenced by gender-unspecified individuals being attributed male gender. We evaluated whether subject gender, subject status on the Bem Sex Role Inventory [BSRI; S. L. Bem (1974), “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 155–162], or situational context would affect the likelihood of subjects attributing male gender to a gender-unspecified individual. College students of primarily European-American descent (82 females and 85 males) read one of three dialogue scripts. Following memory distraction tasks, subjects attributed gender to the target character. Across scripts, there was a strong people = male bias, as subjects were more likely to attribute male, rather than female, gender to the target character. Neither subject gender or BSRI classification affected this bias. Situational context in the scripts had a marginally significant effect.

Backward masking as a function of spatial frequency: a comparison of MMPI-identified schizotypics and control subjects

The present investigation relied upon a neurophysiological explanation of visual masking and compared the backward masking susceptibility of hypothetical schizotypal individuals with that of control subjects. Masking functions were assessed within two masking conditions: high spatial frequency (HSF) and low spatial frequency (LSF). Schizotypal subjects (those with a 2-7-8 or an 8-9 MMPI profile type) were compared with “psychiatric” control subjects (those with a spike 9 or a 4-9 profile type) and normal control subjects. Group differences were expected only in the transient-facilitating, LSF masking condition in this studys assessment of the hypothesis that a transient channel abnormality underlies the schizophrenia spectrum backward masking deficit. As predicted, schizotypal subjects displayed greater masking susceptibility in the LSF transient-facilitating condition as compared with the HSF, sustained-facilitating condition that produced no group differences. These results suggest that multichannel neurophysiological models of masking may help to direct research designed to gain an increased understanding of the specific nature of the spectrum masking deficit.

The use of a backward masking paradigm to assess information-processing deficits among schizotypics. A re-evaluation of Steronko and Woods.

In 1978, Steronko and Woods (J. Abnorm. Psychol., 87: 481–490, 1978) failed to find significant differences in early visual information processing between “schizotypic” and “psychiatric control” college students, as identified by the MMPI; yet these authors concluded that schizotypics suffer from information-processing deficits. The present study was designed to extend and clarify these findings by modifying the methods and procedures used by these researchers. A visual backward masking task was employed to study the information processing of individuals whose MMPI-168 profiles indicated schizophrenic tendencies in the absence of an obvious thought disorder. These schizotypic individuals were identified by the MMPI 2–7–8 code type and were compared with three other groups, also identified by their MMPI profiles: an “inflation-free” control group, an “other-inflations” control group, and a group with an 8–9/9–8 MMPI code type. The 8–9/9–8 code type has been associated with psychotic features in adolescents and adults. Two dependent measures were evaluated: critical stimulus duration in a no-mask condition and mean target identification as a function of varying interstimulus intervals. The 2–7–8 group had significantly higher critical stimulus duration values than either the inflation-free group or the 8–9 groups. The 2–7–8 group and the 8–9 groups had fewer correct identifications of target stimuli than either the inflation-free group or the other-inflations group. These results suggest that both the 2–7–8 group and the 8–9 group may be more vulnerable to the effects of the masking stimulus. It appears that the methods employed by Steronko and Woods may have obscured true differences between individuals who may be vulnerable to psychosis and individuals who may evidence other forms of psychopathology. Moreover, it is suggested that the 8–9 MMPI code type may be an additional index of vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Are personality disorder criteria ethnically biased? A card-sort analysis.

On the basis of methodology used in previous research on sex criterion bias, this study examined ethnicity criterion bias of personality disorders (PDs) defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., Rev.) and included examination of sex as well as ethnicity. A card-sort analysis using undergraduate college students as sorters indicated that criteria for all of the PDs were applied disproportionately by ethnicity, resulting in particular ethnic groups receiving diagnoses for specific PDs. Criteria were sorted systematically such that diagnoses of antisocial and paranoid PDs were assigned to African Americans, schizoid PD was assigned to Asian Americans, and schizotypal PD was assigned to Native Americans. All other PDs were assigned to European Americans, whereas none of the criteria were sorted resulting in any PD diagnosis being applied to Latinos. Implications for clinicians, methodological considerations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Is There Really a Dissociative Taxon on the Dissociative Experiences Scale

The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; Bernstein & Putnam, 1986) and MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1940) were administered to 1,237 college students to evaluate MMPI differences for nonpathological (n = 90) or pathological dissociators (n = 111) and nondissociative controls (n = 476). MMPIs of both dissociation groups had multiple clinical elevations with a mean 8–9 code. People classified in the pathological dissociation group had MMPI scores remarkably similar to those in the normal dissociation group. The DES and DES–Taxon (DES–T; Waller, Putnam, & Carlson, 1996) were also highly correlated. Our findings strongly suggest the DES–T does not uniquely identify categorical dissociation.

MMPI code types and the fantasy prone personality.

We administered the MMPI and the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imagining (ICMI) to 1,200 college students. Application of diagnostic efficiency statistics for the ability of differing ICMI cutoff scores to identify college students producing a schizophrenia spectrum MMPI code type revealed that scores greater than or equal to 29 on the ICMI had good positive predictive power. Scores less than 29 on the ICMI had very good negative predictive power. ICMI scores were also used to form a group of fantasizers (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). Fantasizers were much more likely to produce MMPI codes associated with a vulnerability to schizophrenia (70%) than were controls (3.33%). Although most controls(70%) produced non-elevated MMPI scores, 66.67% of the fantasizers produced three or more elevated clinical scales on the MMPI. The modal MMPI profile for the fantasizers was an 8-9 code, indicating that fantasizers appear at heightened risk for eccentric thinking and a Cluster A or B personality organization.

Methodological and interpretive constraints resulting from the use of the Per-Mag classification in high-risk information-processing research.

It has previously been argued that the current Per-Mag classification criteria may erroneously select some individuals who are not vulnerable to psychosis. We suggest that a second false-positive problem exists with these criteria. Specifically, actively psychotic individuals may be included in presumably prepsychotic samples. Implications of this problem for at-risk information-processing research are discussed.

DSM-IV Cluster A personality disorder diagnoses among young adults with a 2-7-8 MMPI profile.

The present study evaluated the presence of DSM-IV personality disorders among young adults from a nonclinical setting who produced an MMPI 2-7-8 profile in comparison to a group of MMPI-defined controls. Categorical and dimensional analyses of personality disorders were evaluated. Participants in the 2-7-8 group (n = 20) received significantly more personality disorder diagnoses than did controls (n = 29), and 85% of these individuals received at least one Cluster A (Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal) diagnosis in contrast to only 6.9% of controls (categorical analysis). The 2-7-8 group also received significantly more Cluster A diagnoses than Cluster B or C diagnoses. When dimensional analyses were applied (subclinical diagnoses), 95% of the 2-7-8 group evidenced Cluster A features. Comorbidity patterns were also evaluated; the most frequent comorbid diagnosis for the 2-7-8 group was Avoidant Personality Disorder (n = 8), consistent with Meehls (1962, 1989, 1990) conceptualization of schizotypy. These results support the use of the MMPI 2-7-8 profile as an indicator of schizophrenia-related pathology within nonclinical samples of young adults.

Application of signal detection methodology to a critical stimulus duration procedure: Evidence of a visual sensory store deficit among hypothetical schizotypals☆

Abstract The present study was an investigation of the ability of a traditional critical stimulus duration (CSD) procedure to equate schizophrenia spectrum and control subjects on visual initial input capacities. The original MMPI was administered to college students from a nonclinical setting. The 2-7-8 profile type was used in identifying the hypothetically schizotypal population (n = 12). Subjects producing an inflation free (n = 12) or a 4-9 (n = 12) MMPI code constituted the control groups. Analyses of CSD values using the commonly employed yes-no forced choice procedure revealed no significant differences among groups. A yes-no signal detection procedure was employed in constructing receiver operating characteristic curves for each individuals CSD. Transformed sensitivity and response bias analyses revealed that the 2-7-8 group demonstrated significantly lower visual sensitivity in comparison to the control groups. A less clear pattern of response bias differences was also obtained. These results are discussed in terms of the validity of commonly employed CSD procedures and the need for applied signal detection analyses in at-risk research.