IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0208331.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Meta-analysis of coefficient alpha for scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory

Author

Listed:
  • Brian K Miller
  • Kay M Nicols
  • Silvia Clark
  • Alison Daniels
  • Whitney Grant

Abstract

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) has greatly facilitated the scientific study of trait narcissism. However, there is great variability in the reported reliability of scores on the NPI. This study meta-analyzes coefficient alpha for scores on the NPI and its sub-scales (e.g. entitlement) with transformed alphas weighted by the inverse of the variance of alpha. Three coders evaluated 1213 individual studies for possible inclusion and determined that 1122 independent samples were suitable for coding on 12 different characteristics of the sample, scale, and study. A fourth author cross-coded 15 percent of these samples resulting in 85 percent overall agreement. In the independent samples, comprised of 195,038 self-reports, the expected population coefficient alpha for the NPI was .82. The population value for alpha on the various sub-scales ranged from .48 for narcissistic self-sufficiency to .76 for narcissistic leadership/authority. Because significant heterogeneity existed in coded study alphas for the overall NPI, moderator tests and an explanatory model were also conducted and reported. It was found that longer scales, the use of a Likert response scale as opposed to the original forced choice response format, higher mean scores and larger standard deviations on the scale, as well as the use of samples with a larger percentage of female respondents were all positively related to the expected population alpha for scores on the overall NPI. These results will likely aid researchers who are concerned with the reliability of scores on the NPI in their research on non-clinical subjects.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian K Miller & Kay M Nicols & Silvia Clark & Alison Daniels & Whitney Grant, 2018. "Meta-analysis of coefficient alpha for scores on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0208331
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208331
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0208331
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0208331&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0208331?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William Revelle & Richard Zinbarg, 2009. "Coefficients Alpha, Beta, Omega, and the glb: Comments on Sijtsma," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 145-154, March.
    2. A. Hakstian & Thomas Whalen, 1976. "A k-sample significance test for independent alpha coefficients," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 41(2), pages 219-231, June.
    3. Klaas Sijtsma, 2009. "On the Use, the Misuse, and the Very Limited Usefulness of Cronbach’s Alpha," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 107-120, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rayenda Khresna Brahmana & Maria Kontesa, 2023. "‘No Better Fund Without Me!’ Do Narcissistic Start-up Entrepreneurs Succeed in Venture Funding?," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 32(3), pages 638-666, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carmen León-Mantero & José Carlos Casas-Rosal & Alexander Maz-Machado & Miguel E Villarraga Rico, 2020. "Analysis of attitudinal components towards statistics among students from different academic degrees," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Jules L. Ellis & Klaas Sijtsma, 2024. "Proof of Reliability Convergence to 1 at Rate of Spearman–Brown Formula for Random Test Forms and Irrespective of Item Pool Dimensionality," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 89(3), pages 774-795, September.
    3. Jeanne A. Teresi & Katja Ocepek-Welikson & John A. Toner & Marjorie Kleinman & Mildred Ramirez & Joseph P. Eimicke & Barry J. Gurland & Albert Siu, 2017. "Methodological Issues in Measuring Subjective Well-Being and Quality-of-Life: Applications to Assessment of Affect in Older, Chronically and Cognitively Impaired, Ethnically Diverse Groups Using the F," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 251-288, June.
    4. David J. Hessen, 2017. "Lower Bounds to the Reliabilities of Factor Score Estimators," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 82(3), pages 648-659, September.
    5. Watson, Dorothy & Maître, Bertrand & Whelan, Christopher T., 2012. "Understanding Childhood Deprivation in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT125.
    6. Dorothy Watson & Bertrand Maitre, 2015. "Is Fuel Poverty in Ireland a Distinct Type of Deprivation?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 46(2), pages 267-291.
    7. Maciej Ciołek & Izabela Emerling, 2019. "Can We Shape Trait Professional Skepticism through University Accounting Programs? Evidence from Polish University," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-30, January.
    8. Maciej Koniewski & Ilona Barańska & Violetta Kijowska & Jenny T. Steen & Anne B. Wichmann & Sheila Payne & Giovanni Gambassi & Nele Den Noortgate & Harriet Finne-Soveri & Tinne Smets & Lieve den Block, 2022. "Measuring relatives’ perceptions of end-of-life communication with physicians in five countries: a psychometric analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1561-1570, December.
    9. Tyler Hunt & Peter Bentler, 2015. "Quantile Lower Bounds to Reliability Based on Locally Optimal Splits," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 80(1), pages 182-195, March.
    10. Markus Pauly & Maria Umlauft & Ali Ünlü, 2018. "Resampling-Based Inference Methods for Comparing Two Coefficients Alpha," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 83(1), pages 203-222, March.
    11. Cristina Wildermuth & Carlos A. Mello e Souza & Timothy Kozitza, 2017. "Circles of Ethics: The Impact of Proximity on Moral Reasoning," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 17-42, January.
    12. Rob Eisinga & Manfred Grotenhuis & Ben Pelzer, 2013. "The reliability of a two-item scale: Pearson, Cronbach, or Spearman-Brown?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(4), pages 637-642, August.
    13. Hermosa del Vasto Paola & del Campo Cristina & Urquía-Grande Elena & Jorge Susana, 2019. "Designing an Accountability Index: A Case Study of South America Central Governments," Central European Journal of Public Policy, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Anne-Catherine Guio & David Gordon & Eric Marlier & Hector Najera & Marco Pomati, 2018. "Towards an EU measure of child deprivation," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(3), pages 835-860, June.
    15. Gaetano Martino & Giulia Giacchè & Enrica Rossetti, 2016. "Organizing the Co-Production of Health and Environmental Values in Food Production: The Constitutional Processes in the Relationships between Italian Solidarity Purchasing Groups and Farmers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-22, March.
    16. Samuel Mayanja & Joseph M. Ntayi & John C. Munene & Waswa Balunywa & James R. K. Kagaari, 2021. "Informational differences and entrepreneurial networking among small and medium enterprises in Uganda," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 11(1), pages 563-577, December.
    17. Sai-fu Fung & Esther Oi-wah Chow & Chau-kiu Cheung, 2020. "Development and Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of a Brief Wisdom Development Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-14, April.
    18. Conzo, Pierluigi & Aassve, Arnstein & Fuochi, Giulia & Mencarini, Letizia, 2017. "The cultural foundations of happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 268-283.
    19. Xiaochuan Song, 2022. "Investigating Employees’ Responses to Abusive Supervision," Merits, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-20, November.
    20. Sam S. S. Lau & Cherry C. Y. Ho & Rebecca C. K. Pang & Susan Su & Heather Kwok & Sai-fu Fung & Roger C. Ho, 2022. "COVID-19 Burnout Subject to the Dynamic Zero-COVID Policy in Hong Kong: Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the COVID-19 Burnout Frequency Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-13, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0208331. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.