A Preliminary Investigation of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles–Layperson Edition–Short Form

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) is commonly used to assess criminal thinking (thoughts related to criminal behavior); however, the item wording may not be an appropriate assessment for individuals without a criminal history (laypersons) who still may be at risk of engaging in crime. Therefore, a layperson version of the PICTS may more accurately assess criminal thinking among this group. This study examined the psychometric properties of the PICTS–Layperson–Short Form (PICTS-L-SF). Participants were 619 college students without a criminal justice involvement history. Analyses of the PICTS-L-SF indicated that a bifactor model fit the data better than a one- and two-factor model (general criminal thinking; proactive and reactive criminal thinking). Results provide strong evidence for the reliability and validity of the PICTS-L-SF, suggesting it can be used with individuals who are not criminal justice involved to assess criminal thinking.