Psychopathy in Lebanese college students: The PPI-R considered in the context of borderline features and aggressive attitudes across sex and culture

•Investigated the PPI-R across gender and culture in Lebanese students•The PPI-R factors were not orthogonal and demonstrated low internal consistency•Contrasting gender differences in mean PPI-R factor scores observed between samples•Unusual relationships noted with anxiety and borderline features and PPI-R factors•Results question the assessment and construct of psychopathy across culture

Cross-cultural and cross-gender evaluation of psychopathy is limited. This study investigated the construct of psychopathy and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) in a mixed gender Lebanese sample. Lebanese college students demonstrated higher scores on PPI-R-Total and PPI-II subscales than the American normative sample from the PPI-R manual. Lebanese women scored higher than men on Coldheartedness and Stress Immunity, whereas men scored higher on Fearlessness and Machiavellian Egocentricity. PPI-R factor scales demonstrated questionable internal consistency and were not orthogonal. Aggression, antisocial traits, and borderline traits positively correlated with PPI-II, however anxiety did not. Borderline traits were associated with PPI-I for women. Results call into question the assessment and construct of psychopathy in this Arab, collectivist culture.