Question

Explain the personality inventory of MMPI along with its clinical scales and the clinical areas of personality evaluated by it.

Answer 1

Test history

1. This is the most extensively used personality questionnaire for measuring psychopathology and personality structure in adults.
2. The MMPI was developed by Starke R. Hathaway and J.C. McKinley from the University of Minnesota in the United States.
3. MMPI was first published in 1943 by Minnesota University Press.
4. The MMPI-2 was revised and published in 1989. The MMPI-2 was developed by updating and adding items to improve the standard of interpretation of the original clinical scales.
5. The MMPI-2-RF, a restructured version, was developed in 2008.

Test description

1. The original version of the MMPI consists of 550 items.
2. The respondent had to choose and mark their response to one of three categories: ‘True’, ‘False’, or ‘Cannot Say’.
3. The most recent edition of MMPI-2 has 567 items organised in a hierarchical scale.
4. The MMPI can be administered to individuals over 18 years old.
5. The format takes around 2 hours to complete.
6. It includes 10 scales, pertaining to clinical areas of personality, which are as follows:
   1. Hs (Hypochondriasis): Excessive concern with bodily or somatic functions.
   2. D (Depression): Pessimism, hopelessness, slowing of action or thought.
   3. Hy (Hysteria): Experiencing physical symptoms like blindness, paralysis, and vomiting without any underlying cause. This is an unconscious escape from emotional issues.
   4. Pd (Psychopathic deviate): Disregard for social customs, rules; shallow emotions.
   5. Mf (Masculinity-Feminity): Assesses traditional gender role interests and behaviours.
   6. Pa (Paranoia): Suspicion, low levels of trust, delusions of persecution or grandeur.
   7. Pt (Psychasthenia): Assesses anxiety, obsessive thoughts, and compulsive behaviours.
   8. Sc (Schizophrenia): Evaluates bizarre thoughts, social alienation, and disturbed thinking.
   9. Ma (Hypomania): High levels of emotional excitability, flight of ideas, overactivity.
   10. Si (Social introversion): Shyness, no interest in others, insecurity, escape from the problem.
7. There are other clinical scales available, including the 16 item anger scale, which assesses irritation, impatience, and hot-headedness. People who sometimes feel like smashing things may get high scores on these scales.
8. Besides the clinical scales, the MMPI-2 also includes several validity or control scales.
9. These assessments aim to identify test-taking attitudes and response biases that may affect the clinical scale results.
10. The validity scales consider the tendency of people to create a favourable impression.
11. The scales are as follows:
    1. ‘L’ or lie scale: People with high ~core on this appear good and virtuous.
    2. ‘F’ or infrequency scale: The test designed to identify unusual responses to test items. Individuals with high scores often regard themselves as possessing uncommon and improbable features. This is a strong indicator of psychopathology or severe psychological instability.
    3. ‘K’ or correction scale (Defensiveness score): The test measures defensiveness and guardedness in many areas where individuals may conceal difficulties, such as suspicion or fear.
    4. ‘?’ or question scale: It measures how many questions the testee has left unanswered on the test.
12. The new MMPI-2 has added three new validity scales. They are:
    1. FB: It provides the same information as the F scale and identifies test-takers who answer at random, typically in the second half of the test.
    2. VRIN (Variable Response Inconsistency): This scale scores the consistency of the answer.
    3. TRIN (True Response Inconsistency): This test measures.whether the respondent has answered all true or all false at random.