title: The Effect of Response Format on the Psychometric Properties of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory: Consequences for Item Meaning and Factor Structure.
abstract: The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) is currently the most widely used measure of narcissism in social/personality psychology. It is also relatively unique because it uses a forced-choice response format. We investigate the consequences of changing the NPI's response format for item meaning and factor structure. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 40 forced-choice items (n = 2,754), 80 single-stimulus dichotomous items (i.e., separate true/false responses for each item; n = 2,275), or 80 single-stimulus rating scale items (i.e., 5-point Likert-type response scales for each item; n = 2,156). Analyses suggested that the "narcissistic" and "nonnarcissistic" response options from the Entitlement and Superiority subscales refer to independent personality dimensions rather than high and low levels of the same attribute. In addition, factor analyses revealed that although the Leadership dimension was evident across formats, dimensions with entitlement and superiority were not as robust. Implications for continued use of the NPI are discussed.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA raa110030@utdallas.edu.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ackerman
authors.affiliation: Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, USA.
authors.forename: M Brent
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Donnellan
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Brent W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA.
authors.forename: R Chris
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Fraley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Narcissistic Personality Inventory; factor analysis; forced choice; narcissism; response format