Measuring Gelotophobia, Gelotophilia, and Katagelasticism in Italy and Canada Using PhoPhiKat-30 A Multidimensional Item Response Theory and Differential Item Functioning Analysis

Abstract

The PhoPhiKat-30 is a self-report instrument for describing personality related to laughter and ridicule including gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism. The present study assessed the measurement properties of the newly translated Italian PhoPhiKat-30 across participants in Italy and Canada using multidimensional item response theory. Italian (N = 326) and Canadian (N = 1,467) participants completed the Italian and English PhoPhiKat-30, respectively. The parallel analysis supported the three-factor model in Italy. Conditional reliability estimates showed strong precision (> 0.80) of gelotophobia and gelotophilia along the latent continuum (−1.15 < θ < 3.08 and −1.69 < θ < 3.09, respectively). Katagelasticism showed a limited range (0.98 < θ < 2.85) for the latent attribute precisely measured, suggesting that new items that address the low to moderate difficulty of katagelasticism should be added in future studies. Item discrimination parameters varied across Reckase’s multidimensional normal-ogive model (MDISC mean = 0.79). Five items had uniform differential item functioning (DIF; McFadden’s pseudo R2 > .035 or β > .10) when comparing the Italian and English PhoPhiKat-30, with English items showing more agreement at the same level of the latent trait. The Italian PhoPhiKat-30 has good item discrimination across the latent continuum and showed cross-cultural equivalence for most items.