Urdu Translation and Preliminary Validation of the Assessment of Sadistic Personality (ASP-8) in Pakistan

Abstract

Sadism is a personality trait that is considered socially undesirable as it involves the pleasure of inflicting pain and suffering on others. In this study, the objective was to adapt the Assessment of Sadistic Personality (ASP-8; Plouffe et al.,2021) scale into Urdu and evaluate its psychometric properties. The study was designed using quantitative methodology and data collection was done through purposive sampling technique. The study sample included 547 participants, out of which 107 belonged to the clinical sample and 440 to the non-clinical sample. ASP-8 was translated into Urdu by the method of forward translation, expert review, back-translation, reconciliation and pre-test. The data was analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), reliability analysis and Pearson Product Moment Correlation for divergent validity. EFA was performed using principal axis factoring with Promax rotation. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure was used to confirm the sampling adequacy (KMO = .900) and the result of Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant. Internal consistency for the Urdu ASP-8 was very good (α = .90), with corrected item-total correlations being between .59 and .74. Divergent validity was tested using the correlation with Coolidge Axis II Inventory Self-Defeating Personality Disorder Scale (SDPDS; Coolidge & Merwin, 1992) with a small positive correlation found (r = .23, p < .01). Generally, the results show initial evidence of the reliability and psychometric value of the translated Urdu ASP-8.