difficultpersontest

Form DPT-45Scale: Grandiosity7 items

Grandiosity

Feeling entitled to special treatment and seeing yourself as above others.

What does grandiosity look like?

These are typical examples, written by us to illustrate the statements below — not a checklist for diagnosing anyone.

  • Getting irritated when rules apply to you the same as everyone else
  • Assuming you're right before hearing the other side
  • Talking down to people you see as less capable

Where does this trait come from in the research?

Grandiosity is one of seven factors that emerged when researchers analyzed 234 antagonism items from seven questionnaires (Sleep et al., 2021). The statements used here come from the “Grandiosity” scale of the CAT-PD static form, a personality-disorder trait measure built in a project funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (Simms et al., 2011), published in the public-domain International Personality Item Pool.

The item pool reports internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) for this scale of 0.85 in a community sample and 0.81 in a patient sample. Values above about .80 mean the statements hang together well; it does not by itself show the scale measures what it claims. Validation studies found the static-form scales relate to other trait measures as expected (Long et al., 2021).

Which statements measure grandiosity?

ItemSelf-report wordingScored
816Deserve special treatment from others.As answered
2385Should get special privileges.As answered
570Believe that I am better than others.As answered
980Don't think I should have to wait in lines like others.As answered
1211Feel that others are beneath me.As answered
569Believe that I am always right.As answered
2572Treat people as inferiors.As answered

Your grandiosity score is the average of these 7 answers. Item numbers are the item pool's own identifiers.

If you scored high

  • In your next disagreement, say what would change your mind before arguing your case.
  • Notice when you feel a rule shouldn't apply to you; ask whether you'd excuse someone else the same way.
  • Credit someone else's contribution publicly once a week.

If it's someone you deal with

  • Keep feedback factual and private; public correction tends to escalate.
  • Set expectations in advance ("everyone follows the same process") rather than arguing exceptions in the moment.
  • Don't compete for status; restate the goal and move on.

These suggestions are our editorial judgment, not tested interventions. For the research on whether people can change these traits, read how to be less difficult; for others, dealing with a difficult person.

Take the full testRate someone

The other six traits

  1. 01

    Callousness

  2. 02

    Domineering

  3. 03

    Manipulativeness

  4. 04

    Mistrust

  5. 05

    Hostile aggression

  6. 06

    Risk taking

Sources

  1. Sleep CE, Crowe ML, Carter NT, Lynam DR, Miller JD (2021). Uncovering the structure of antagonism. Personal Disord 12(4), 300-311. PubMed 34323587 · doiCross-sectional factor analysis. 532 university students answered 234 antagonism items from seven trait measures; a seven-factor solution emerged: callousness, grandiosity, domineering, manipulation, suspiciousness, aggression and risk taking. Limits: One student sample, self-report only. Checked against the abstract only, October 26, 2026.
  2. Simms LJ, Goldberg LR, Roberts JE, Watson D, Welte J, Rotterman JH (2011). Computerized adaptive assessment of personality disorder: introducing the CAT-PD project. J Pers Assess 93(4), 380-9. PubMed 22804677 · doiMeasure development. Describes the NIMH-funded project that built the CAT-PD trait model and item pool (59 candidate traits, 2,589 initial items). Limits: Early-phase report. Checked against the abstract only, October 26, 2026.
  3. Long TA, Reinhard E, Sellbom M, Anderson JL (2021). An Examination of the Reliability and Validity of the Comprehensive Assessment of Traits Relevant to Personality Disorder-Static Form (CAT-PD-SF). Assessment 28(5), 1345-1357. PubMed 32125172 · doiValidation study. CAT-PD static-form scores related to other personality measures in expected ways and moderately to functional impairment. Limits: The five-factor structure fit only marginally. Checked against the abstract only, October 26, 2026.

Item text and reliability values: International Personality Item Pool (IPIP): CAT-PD-SF v1.1 scale keys, retrieved 2026-10-26. Public domain (IPIP): use for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, is pre-granted.