Research validation of misguided entitlement.

This writer theorized that psychiatric patients that exhibited high levels of "misguided entitlement" (ME) would share certain personality traits, including narcissism, aggression, sociopathy, paranoia, and depression. The Millon Multiaxial Clinical Inventory (MMCI-II) was the instrument chosen to measure these traits in a sample of 100 psychiatric hospital/day hospital patients (Millon, 1987). An Entitlement Scale (ES) was devised so that staff nurses could rate entitled behaviors observed in these same 100 patients during the daily course of providing care. Scores from both instruments then were tested for statistical significance. High ME (low scores) was found to be significantly correlated with high scores on Millon's aggression, sociopathy and paranoia scales, but were not with narcissistic or depressive personality patterns. These findings validated certain propositions put forth in the conceptual framework, and invalidated others (Kerr, 1985). Validity and reliability studies indicated that the ES was a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the behavioral manifestations of misguided entitlement.