Cross-cultural validity of the I7 impulsiveness-venturesomeness-empathy scales: evidence from the Italian I7

The cross-cultural generalizability of Impulsiveness-Venturesomeness-Empathy questionnaire (I7) is investigated with a sample of 578 Italian adults, mostly nonstudents. Results indicate that Italian I7 scale intercorrelations and reliabilities were similar to those obtained in other cultural contexts; furthermore, the 3-factor structure is generalizable across sexes and invariant compared with the English normative structure, as well as with those found in the French, Dutch, and Spanish versions. Impulsiveness was positively correlated with Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and with Dickman's dysfunctional impulsivity scale but independent of the functional impulsivity scale. Plotting the scale onto the Eysenck's psychoticism-extraversion-neuroticism factor space, impulsiveness was more strongly related to psychoticism and neuroticism than to extraversion. We remark that the impulsiveness measure of I7 is fairly stable across languages and cultures and can be used reliably in Italian speaking samples.