Journal of Personality Disorders, 29, 2015, 182
© 2015 The Guilford Press
1
From Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington (P. S. B., A. T. P.); Florida State University, Tallahassee,
Florida (C. J. P.); University of Montana, Missoula, Montana (K. M. O.); and University of California,
Santa Barbara (J. A. G.).
Address correspondence to Pavel S. Blagov, PhD, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99326. E-mail:
blagovp@whitman.edu
TRIARCHIC PSYCHOPATHY MEASURE:
VALIDITY IN RELATION TO NORMAL-RANGE
TRAITS, PERSONALITY PATHOLOGY,
AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT
Pavel S. Blagov, PhD, Christopher J. Patrick, PhD, Kathryn M. Oost,
MA, Joshua A. Goodman, MA, and Alan T. Pugh, BA
The triarchic model of psychopathy replaces a syndromal view of this
pathological personality condition with a tripartite trait-based concep-
tion, positing three distinct phenotypic dispositions as building blocks
for what theorists have traditionally termed psychopathy. The Triarchic
Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) offers an eficient means for measuring the
three dimensions to facilitate research on the model’s validity. We tested the
reliability of the TriPM as well as its convergent and discriminant validity
with respect to differing models of personality and other criterion variables
relecting social-emotional adjustment and mental health in an undergradu-
ate participant sample (n = 120). The TriPM evidenced excellent internal
consistencies, good test-retest reliability, and strong validity consistent with
the triarchic model. We discuss the results with respect to prior research and
offer suggestions for future research on the validity of the TriPM and the
triarchic model.
Based on the triarchic model of psychopathy (Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009),
the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010) was developed to
capture three distinct phenotypic dimensions: disinhibition, meanness, and bold-
ness. We review research on its validity, drawing attention to the less consistent
indings, and present tests of its internal and test-retest reliability and convergent
and discriminant validity vis-à-vis an original set of validation measures.
Boldness relects tendencies toward fearlessness, adventure seeking, social
dominance, and low stress reactivity (Patrick et al., 2009), and it relates closely
to fearless-dominance (Benning, Patrick, Hicks, Blonigen, & Krueger, 2003). By
facilitating glibness, it may enable highly psychopathic individuals to appear
well adjusted (as described by Cleckley, 1982). Disinhibition, as the tendency
not to constrain behavior in the context of activation by appetitive pursuit
or anger, may facilitate irresponsibility, poor planning, impulsivity, and angry
G4361_182.indd 1 2/13/2015 11:11:40 AM