Cross-cultural Generalizability of Psychopathic Personality Disorder: Differences Between Individualistic Versus Collectivistic Cultures

Research on Psychopathic Personality Disorder (PPD) has hitherto focused predominantly on White North Americans. The extent to which the current conceptualization of PPD can be extrapolated to other cultures remains a question. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the generalizability of the construct of PPD, as defined using the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP; see Cooke, Hart, Logan, & Michie, 2013), across individualistic versus collectivistic (IND-COL) cultures. Specifically, the measurement equivalence of CAPP self-ratings across IND-COL cultures was examined using Means and Covariance Structure (MACS) analysis in a sample of 775 undergraduates. IND-COL was measured four ways at three levels: the individual cultural orientation level, the perceived cultural context, and the syndromal levels of nationality and ethnicity. Results showed general configural invariance for a 3-factor solution for the CAPP, indicating the construct of PPD was conceptually similar across IND-COL groups. There was, however, some indication of a lack of metric and scalar invariance, depending on how IND-COL was operationalized. Implications for understanding the pan-cultural core of PPD and future cross-cultural research on PPD are discussed.