Abstract
Four samples were used to evaluate the incremental validity of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) General Criminal Thinking (GCT) score and Proactive (P) and Reactive (R) composite scales vis-á-vis response style in predicting disciplinary adjustment and recidivism. Purified Confusion (Cfp) and Defensiveness (Dfp) validity scales were constructed by eliminating items from the PICTS Confusion and Defensiveness scales that overlapped with GCT, P, and R. The four-item Cfp and Dfp scales were employed as measures of response style and entered into binomial probit regression analyses alongside GCT, P, and R. The GCT score consistently predicted disciplinary adjustment and recidivism in male and female offenders when included in regression equations with Cfp and Dfp. The P scale only displayed incremental validity relative to Cfp and Dfp in large groups of participants, whereas the R scale was incapable of predicting recidivism in female offenders when paired with Cfp and Dfp.
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