Examining the Dimensionality of Pathological Narcissism: Factor Analysis and Construct Validity of the O'Brien Multiphasic Narcissism Inventory

The focus of the current research was to investigate the structure of possible dimensions of pathological narcissism as suggested by the American Psychiatric Association and recently by Miller. For this study, a 75-item instrument, the O'Brien Multiphasic Narcissism Inventory, was developed. Three studies provide preliminary evidence of the test's validity. A factor analysis, in Study 1, identified three orthogonal scales, labelled Narcissistic Personality Dimension, Poisonous Pedagogy Dimension, and Narcissistically Abused Personality Dimension. In Studies 2 and 3, issues of validity were investigated by testing construct hypotheses and by correlating scores on the new scales with those on both the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and Eysenck Personality Inventory. Taken as a whole, the three studies give encouraging evidence that the new scales provide a useful group measure of the dimensions of pathological narcissistic personality.