This study introduces the Primary Affect Inventory (PAFI), a self-report questionnaire operationalizing Panksepp’s proposed primary affects (SEEKING, CARE, PLAY, LUST, FEAR, ANGER, PANIC/GRIEF) with regard to affective states of the past seven days. Psychometric properties were examined in two samples: Sample 1 (N = 432, 69.9% female, Mage = 39.84 y, SD = 18.25 y) and sample 2 (N = 460, 85% female, Mage = 34.79 y, SD = 11.63 y). Based on sample 1 reliability was estimated via McDonald’s omega, structural validity using exploratory graph analysis (EGA), convergent and criterion validity were assessed through correlations with primary affective traits (BANPS-GL), Big Five personality traits (BFI-K), and psychiatric symptoms (ISR). Using sample 2, the proposed latent structure was investigated by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). All subdomains showed good to excellent internal consistency (ω ≥ 0.88). EGA identified seven communities corresponding to the predefined primary affects. Overall, correlation analyses supported expected relationships between PAFI subdomains, personality, and symptoms. CFA confirmed excellent fit for the correlated subdomains model, while a two-higher-order-factor model showed acceptable fit. Finally, invariance analysis of the factor-structure in both samples suggested full measurement invariance up to the scalar level. PAFI demonstrates strong psychometric properties, including reliability, structural validity, convergent and criterion validity. Its brief format and straightforward language make it suitable for efficiently assessing primary affective states across populations.

The COllaborative Scoring MethOd (COSMO) is a promising new coding system applicable on the Picture Frustration Study, rooted in the Interpersonal perspective and collaborative assessment framework. The COSMO system includes two levels of coding. First, it allows the coding of interpersonal styles based on four quadrants resulting from the combination of Agency and Communion variables. Second, COSMO assesses the severity of personality pathology. This pilot study shows preliminary data on the reliability and validity of COSMO applied to Picture Frustration Study responses. Results in a mixed-sample design have shown the robustness of both COSMO levels of coding. Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 3 represent the most adaptive and the maladaptive interpersonal styles based on the comparison with other measures of personality assessment about severity, personality traits and interpersonal patterns. Also, results indicated COSMO good discriminant capacity when compared with the other well-established measures for assessing personality functioning and interpersonal issues. Finally, an Impaired Functioning Index has been created to account both for styles and severity of personality pathology. Applicability and utility are discussed, including its use in the Collaborative Assessment framework.

Forced-choice (FC) questionnaires have gained scientific interest over the last decades. However, the inclusion of unequally keyed item pairs in FC questionnaires remains a subject of debate, as there is evidence supporting both their usage and avoidance. Designing unequally keyed pairs may be more difficult when considering social desirability, as they might allow the identification of ideal responses. Nevertheless, they may enhance the reliability and the potential for normative interpretation of scores. To empirically investigate this topic, data were collected from 1,125 undergraduate Psychology students who completed a personality item pool measuring the Big Five personality traits in Likert-type format and two FC questionnaires (with and without unequally keyed pairs). These questionnaires were compared in terms of reliability, convergent and criterion validity, and ipsativity of the scores, along with insights on the construction process. While constructing questionnaires with unequally keyed blocks presented challenges in matching items on their social desirability, the differences observed in terms of reliability, validity, or ipsativity were sporadic and lacked systematic patterns. This suggests that neither questionnaire format exhibited a clear superiority. Given these results, it is recommended using only equally keyed blocks to minimize potential validity issues associated with response biases.

Language is a fundamental aspect of human culture that influences cognitive and perceptual processes. Prior evidence demonstrates personality self-report can vary across multilingual persons’ language contexts. We assessed how cultural identification, language dominance, or both dynamically influence bilingual respondents’ self-conception, via self-reported personality, across English and Spanish contexts. During separate English and Spanish conditions, 133 Hispanic/Latino bilingual participants (70 female) completed the Big Five Inventory of personality. We used language use and acculturation surveys completed in both languages to calculate participants’ relative language dominance and identification with U.S.-American and Hispanic culture. Participants reported higher levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism in English relative to Spanish. Language dominance predicted cross-language differences in personality report, with higher extraversion reported in participants’ dominant language. Within each language, greater endorsement of U.S.-American identity was associated with higher extraversion and conscientiousness and lower reported neuroticism. Agreeableness report in both languages was positively predicted by Hispanic identification. Our results clarify existing literature related to language and cultural effects on personality report among U.S. Hispanics/Latinos. These findings could inform assessments of self-relevant cognitions across languages among bilingual populations and hold relevance for health outcomes affected by cultural processes.

Historically, forensic evaluators have relied heavily upon various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders when rendering psycholegal opinions. The field of mental health is increasing moving toward dimensional models of personality and psychopathology in lieu of traditional DSM categorical models, though the domains of forensic psychology and psychiatry have been slow to make this transition. The current study therefore sought to examine forensic evaluators’ familiarity with dimensional approaches to personality and psychopathology, namely the Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) and the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). Forensic psychologists and psychiatrists (N = 54) completed an online survey designed to assess their familiarity with these models, as well as to determine if forensics practitioners are using these models in clinical practice. Participants endorsed greater familiarity with the AMPD, with a large majority of participants indicating they were unfamiliar with the HiTOP model. Few participants endorsed using these models in their clinical forensic practice. Implications for making the transition to dimensional models within forensic evaluation are discussed, as are paths forward for future research.

In response to Cannon’s widely accepted fight-or-flight system, Taylor et al. proposed the tend-and-befriend hypothesis to better capture variance in women’s stress response behaviors. The Tend-and-Befriend Questionnaire (TBQ) measures self-reported individual differences in the use of fight, flight, tend, and befriend. Several studies have used this scale to evaluate sex differences in these behaviors, yet it has not yet been rigorously evaluated. Using three samples (N = 1094), we first explore the factor structure of the TBQ to produce and validate a revised measure, the TBQ-Short Form (TBQ-SF). Next, we evaluate the claim that women use tend-and-befriend more than men. Results indicated that the TBQ-SF provided both reliable subscales and largely acceptable model fit, yet the factor structure and validity varied across the three samples. While men do report more fighting than women, both men and women report use tending and befriending more than fighting or fleeing. Finally, other variables—namely attachment—capture more variance in TBQ-SF factors than sex. While the TBQ-SF does capture differences in stress reactions (fight, flight, tend/befriend), we suggest that the scale is most reliable in measuring overall stress reactivity. Therefore, future research should aim to construct a better scale specific to tend-and-befriend using alternative methodologies.

Empathy is predominantly assessed with self-report questionnaires. However, their structural validities were not well-supported. This study aimed to re-explore and refine the factor structure of the Chinese version of the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) and investigate the pathways linked between dimensions of empathy and schizotypy. Data from a valid sample of 1,360 community-dwelling adults (aged 18–35) were subjected to the exploratory graph analysis (EGA) and bootstrap EGA for factor retention. A goodness-of-fit evaluation was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Lastly, a Gaussian graphical model with sum scores of the resultant empathy dimensions, positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy, and paranoia as nodes was estimated. Results supported a three-factor structure for the revised 20-item QCAE, demonstrating a good model fit. The new Online simulation subscale was associated with reduced disorganized schizotypy, whereas the new Perspective-taking subscale was associated with decreased disorganized schizotypy and increased positive schizotypy. The composite Affective empathy subscale was associated with decreased negative schizotypy and increased positive and disorganized schizotypy and paranoia. Overall, the revised QCAE demonstrated good structural validity, measuring three separable and internally cohesive factors of empathy. Each factor possessed unique and differential relationships with schizotypy dimensions that merit research and clinical attention.

The goal was to create a brief temperament inventory grounded in the Regulative Theory of Temperament (FCB-TMI-CC), with a user-friendly, online applicability for studies in different cultures. As the regulative role of temperament is strongly revealed under meaningful stress, the study was planned within the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure high diversity in terms of culture, economic and environmental conditions, data from nine countries (Poland, United States of America, Italy, Japan, Argentina, South Korea, Ireland, United Kingdom and Kazakhstan) were utilized (min. N = 200 per country). Validation data were gathered on the level of COVID-19 stressors, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, and Big Five personality traits. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis served as the basis for the inventory’s construction. The final culture-common version includes 37 items (5–6 in each of the 7 scales) and covers the core aspects of temperament dimensions. Temperament structure was confirmed to be equivalent across measured cultures. The measurement is invariant at the level of factor loadings and the reliability (internal consistency) and theoretical validity of the scales were at least acceptable. Therefore, the FCB-TMI-CC may serve as a valuable tool for studying temperament across diverse cultures and facilitate cross-cultural comparisons.

Identity dysfunction is considered core to psychopathology, contributing to emotional and interpersonal problems across psychiatric diagnoses. Despite its centrality in theories of personality and psychopathology, the empirical research on the structure of identity dysfunction is fragmented by a plethora of self-report measures assessing varied domains of identity dysfunction. This project examines conceptual domains of identity dysfunction in self-report assessments, with the goal of elucidating a clear structure of identity dysfunction to advance both theory and measurement. Toward this aim, we a) investigate the factor structure of identity dysfunction in existing self-report measures, using exploratory factor analysis and b) examine relationships between identity dysfunction and closely related constructs, using exploratory structural equation modeling. We assess responses from 632 young adults to 17 commonly used identity functioning self-report measures. In a series of exploratory factor analyses, we identified four content-domains of Identity Dysfunction (Self-Alienation, Susceptibility to External Influence, Self-Dysregulation, and Contingent Self-Esteem) and three content domains of Identity Clarity (Self-Consistency, Reflective Functioning, and Authentic Living). These content domains were largely well-represented by a single factor. In a series of exploratory structural equation models, emergent factors related similarly to personality, emotion dysregulation, and values and problems in interpersonal relationships.