TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychometric Properties of Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS Scales in a Large Sample of Offenders
AU - Poythress, Norman
AU - Skeem, Jennifer L.
AU - Weir, John
AU - Lilienfeld, Scott O.
AU - Douglas, Kevin S.
AU - Edens, John F.
AU - Kennealy, Patrick J.
PY - 2008/1/1
Y1 - 2008/1/1
N2 - Contemporary motivational theories of psychopathy (Lykken, 1995) employ constructs from Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST; Gray, 1982), behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) functioning, to explain etiologic differences in psychopathy subtypes. Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS scales are the most widely used measures of these constructs, yet there is a dearth of research on how these measures perform with offenders. Using a sample of 1515 offenders, we found evidence that five, rather than the usual four factors, underpin the BIS/BAS scales. Importantly, BIS items that tap into anxiety and fear sensitivity, respectively, split to form separate factors, yielding a structure that is more consistent with the revised (Gray & McNaughton, 2000) than with the earlier version of RST. Implications for the use of the BIS/BAS scales to study psychopathy in offenders are discussed.
AB - Contemporary motivational theories of psychopathy (Lykken, 1995) employ constructs from Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST; Gray, 1982), behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) functioning, to explain etiologic differences in psychopathy subtypes. Carver and White’s (1994) BIS/BAS scales are the most widely used measures of these constructs, yet there is a dearth of research on how these measures perform with offenders. Using a sample of 1515 offenders, we found evidence that five, rather than the usual four factors, underpin the BIS/BAS scales. Importantly, BIS items that tap into anxiety and fear sensitivity, respectively, split to form separate factors, yielding a structure that is more consistent with the revised (Gray & McNaughton, 2000) than with the earlier version of RST. Implications for the use of the BIS/BAS scales to study psychopathy in offenders are discussed.
KW - Psychopathy
KW - BIS/BAS scales
KW - Gray’s theory
UR - https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/mhlp_facpub/61
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.07.021
U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2008.07.021
DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2008.07.021
M3 - Article
VL - 45
JO - Personality and Individual Differences
JF - Personality and Individual Differences
ER -