Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP)

Abstract

The Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP), developed by Michael R. Levenson and colleagues in 1995, is a widely used instrument designed to assess psychopathic traits in non-institutionalized populations. Unlike clinical diagnostic tools, the LSRP measures subclinical manifestations of psychopathy, conceptualizing the construct across two primary dimensions: Primary Psychopathy (affective/interpersonal deficits) and Secondary Psychopathy (antisocial behavior and lifestyle instability). It offers a rapid, publicly available method for research across diverse community and forensic samples.

Keywords

Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, LSRP, Psychopathy, Sociopathy, Anti-social Personality Disorder, Primary Psychopathy, Secondary Psychopathy, Self-report, Personality Assessment.

Authors

Michael R. Levenson, K. Kiehl, C. Fitzpatrick

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the LSRP is to assess psychopathic attributes in general population samples, often referred to as subclinical psychopathy. It distinguishes itself from instruments designed solely for forensic or clinical settings (such as the PCL-R) by utilizing a self-report format suitable for large-scale research focusing on personality dimensions rather than strict diagnostic criteria.

The scale is particularly valuable for investigating how psychopathic traits manifest in non-incarcerated individuals, providing insights into the relationship between these traits and various measures of personality, academic success, and social functioning. Its ease of administration and public availability contribute significantly to its widespread use in personality and social psychology research.

Construct

The LSRP measures the dimensional construct of psychopathy, a personality disorder characterized by pervasive disregard for the rights of others and a lack of empathy, often referred to colloquially as sociopathy. This construct is closely related to the clinical diagnosis of Anti-social Personality Disorder (ASPD).

The scale is structured around a foundational two-factor model, comprising 26 total items:

• Primary Psychopathy (16 items): This factor captures the emotional and interpersonal deficits associated with psychopathy, such as callousness, manipulativeness, and lack of guilt or empathy. It reflects the core affective component.
• Secondary Psychopathy (10 items): This factor captures the unstable and antisocial lifestyle aspects, including impulsivity, irresponsibility, and poor behavioral controls. It reflects the behavioral component often linked to high anxiety and neuroticism.

While the two-factor model remains dominant, more current research proposes a three-way model which can be broken up into egocentricity, callousness, and anti-social behavior, offering researchers flexibility in defining the underlying components of subclinical psychopathy.

Validity

The LSRP demonstrates strong evidence of validity across various populations. It has been successfully validated using both prison and non-prison samples (Sellbom, 2011), supporting its robust applicability in both forensic and community settings. This broad validation scope is a significant strength of the scale.

The scale exhibits good convergent reliability with other established psychopathy measures, confirming that it assesses the intended construct effectively. Furthermore, the LSRP has shown strong cross-cultural evidence. Although originally developed for a North American audience, it has been translated into Chinese and used successfully in Chinese populations, maintaining high internal, convergent, and discriminant validity (Shou, Sellbom & Han, 2016).

Reliability

Internal consistency, a key measure of reliability, is consistently reported as high. Specific internal validity checks cite a Cronbach’s alpha of .84 (Sellbom, 2009), indicating strong coherence among the 26 items in measuring the underlying construct.

The LSRP also possesses good test-retest reliability. This suggests that the scores obtained by individuals remain stable over time, reinforcing the instrument’s utility as a reliable research tool for long-term or longitudinal studies of personality traits.

Factor Analysis

The scale’s original and most commonly utilized factor structure is bifactorial, differentiating between the core affective/interpersonal deficits (Primary Psychopathy) and the behavioral/lifestyle instability (Secondary Psychopathy). This two-factor model provides a crucial distinction, allowing researchers to study the unique etiological pathways and correlates of the two dimensions.

However, scholarly work utilizing techniques like taxometric analysis (Walters et al., 2008) has explored whether the construct is better modeled dimensionally or categorically. Alternative factor structures, such as the three-factor model focusing on egocentricity, callousness, and antisociality, are sometimes proposed, reflecting the ongoing debate regarding the optimal measurement model for subclinical psychopathy, particularly when applied to non-forensic populations.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire/Personality inventory

Format: 26 items utilizing a 5-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree to 5=Strongly Agree)

Language Available: English, Chinese (validated)

Population Group: General and Non-institutionalized populations, as well as incarcerated samples

Age Group: Adult (typically 18+)

Population Details: Originally developed using a North American college student sample, but validated across various community and forensic samples.

Test Methodology: Respondents rate their agreement with 26 statements concerning their emotional affect, interpersonal style, and lifestyle choices.

Keywords

LSRP, Affective deficits, Antisocial behavior, Callousness, Egocentricity, Forensic psychology, Personality traits, Self-report measures.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1995

Permissions and Fee: The LSRP is generally free to the public and accessible for non-commercial research purposes, which is noted as a significant advantage of the scale compared to proprietary instruments.

Clinical Use Caution: A noted disadvantage is that the scale is not well validated in a clinical setting, meaning its primary utility remains within research rather than formal diagnosis.

The original PDF detailing the instrument and validation can be downloaded here: http://nrc-iol.org/cores/ccnlab/publications/levenson_etal.pdf

Reference’s

• Levenson, M.; Kiehl, K.; Fitzpatrick, C. (1995). “Assessing psychopathic attributes in a noninstitutionalized population”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 151-158.
• Gaughan J. D. Miller E. T., Pryor L. R. (Dec 2008). “The Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale: An Examination of the Personality Traits and Disorders Associated With the LSRP Factors”. Assessment 15 (4): 450–63.
• Walters, Glenn; Brinkley, Chad; Magaletta, Philip; Diamond, Pamela (2008). “Taxometric analysis of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy scale”. Journal of Personality Assessment.
• Sellbom, Martin. “Elaborating on the construct validity of the Levenson self-report psychopathy scale in incarcerated and non-incarcerated samples”.
• Shou, Y., Sellbom, M., & Han, S. (2016). Cross-cultural validation of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale in a Chinese population. Personality and Individual Differences, 98, 151-158.

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Items of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Success is based on survival of the fittest; I am not concerned about the losers.
2. I find myself in the same kinds of trouble‚ time after time.
3. For me‚ what’s right is whatever I can get away with.
4. I am often bored.
5. In today’s world‚ I feel justified in doing anything I can get away with to succeed.
6. I find that I am able to pursue one goal for a long time.
7. My main purpose in life is getting as many goodies as I can.
8. I don’t plan anything very far in advance.
9. Making a lot of money is my most important goal.
10. I quickly lose interest in tasks I start.
11. I let others worry about higher values; my main concern is with the bottom line.
12. Most of my problems are due to the fact that other people just don’t understand me.
13. People who are stupid enough to get ripped off usually deserve it.
14. Before I do anything‚ I carefully consider the possible consequences.
15. Looking out for myself is my top priority.
16. I have been in a lot of shouting matches with other people.
17. I tell other people what they want to hear so that they will do what I want them to do.
18. When I get frustrated‚ I often “let off steam” by blowing my top.
19. I would be upset if my success came at someone else’s expense.
20. Love is overrated.
21. I often admire a really clever scam.
22. I make a point of trying not to hurt others in pursuit of my goals.
23. I enjoy manipulating other people’s feelings.
24. I feel bad if my words or actions cause someone else to feel emotional pain.
25. Even if I were trying very hard to sell something‚ I wouldn’t lie about it.
26. Cheating is not justified because it is unfair to others.

Scoring Format: (1) strongly disagree (2) disagree (3) neither agree nor disagree (4) agree (5) strongly agree

Subscales Item Mapping:

• Primary psychopathy (psychopathic emotional affect): Items 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 (Note: Items 19, 22, 24, 25, 26 are reverse-scored).
• Secondary psychopathy (psychopathic lifestyle): Items 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 (Note: Items 6 and 14 are reverse-scored).