MMPI profiles of parishioners seeking pastoral counseling.

The MMPI was administered to 40 parishioners who had sought aid in pastoral counseling and 40 members of the same congregation who had not sought such aid. An attempt was made to control for sex, age, education, and income. Significant differences between these groups were found on 10 out of 12 scales. Using the MMPI as the criterion, the pastoral counseling group appeared to be more disturbed than the control group across a variety of psychological indexes. In view of these findings, a question was raised concerning the adequacy of ministerial training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Driver behavior and scores on the MMPI.

Are auto accidents related to driver personality? Using a paper and pencil personality inventory (MMPI), the driver behavior and MMPI scores of 993 college students were compared. Some slight relationship was found. "Knowledge of the kind of personality organization and motivation of a driver may be useful for purposes of both licensing and training drivers." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brain lesions and five MMPI items.

A 29-item scale was developed using 30 + 30 Ss and .05 level X2 values, for differentiating patients with CNS diseases from those without. Upon cross-validation, the scale differentiated too poorly for clinical use. The X2 values of 5 of the original 29 items towered above the others, and when these 5 were used with cross-validation groups, a cuttingpoint score of 4 on them differentiated above the .01 level of significance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some relationships between the MMPI and a problem checklist.

Problem Checklist responses and MMPI T-scores were obtained for 335 male and 125 female student counselees. The most frequently checked problems dealt with educational and vocational difficulties, and males were nearly twice as variable as females in number of problems checked. "In general, there seems to be some logical correspondence between several of the Checklist problems and personality characteristics as assessed by the MMPI… [but]… Since the number of individuals in most of the high scale groups was so small… valid inference from the… results is impossible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term stability of MMPI profiles.

Although current use of the MMPI places strong emphasis on the pattern or profile of scores, there is no available evidence as to the short-term stability of the MMPI profile. Therefore, 42 hospital volunteer workers and 40 hospitalized psychiatric patients were retested with the MMPI with mean test-retest intervals of 1.0 and 2.2 days, respectively. Profile stability was measured by computing product-moment correlations for each S's 2 sets of scale scores and by analyzing the rank-order stability of the 3 highest scores. The profile correlations were high, with median correlations of .87 for the patients and .82 for the volunteers. However, there was appreciable instability in the rankings of the 3 highest scores. The implications of the findings for clinical and research use of the MMPI are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Set and content scores for personality scales and response styles in the MMPI.

Set and content scores from 3 MMPI scales, Edwards SD scale, the Manifest Anxiety scale (MA), and the Masculinity-Femininity (Mf) scale, were derived by an adaptation of the Helmstadter technique for obtaining separate (acquiescence) set and content scores from personality scales. In a factor analysis of scores for 150 male college Ss on 54 variables, the MA-Set and SD-Set variables defined a common factor, but only the Mf-Set variable loaded the 2nd, or acquiescence, factor. The inconsistency of these results indicated that the set formula was not consistently measuring, or reflecting, acquiescence, or any other construct, and furthermore suggested the need for caution in making acquiescence interpretations based on the Helmstadter procedure. Some speculations were advanced to account for the disparate results of the set variables, such as the degree of true-false and SD-SUD keying in the "parent" scales. A systematic variation of such scale keying in future research may indicate what the set procedure is measuring and have potential implications for the clarification of the nature of acquiescence in personality scales. (34 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategic, method, and stylistic variance in the MMPI.

"Strategic variance arises in the assessment of an S's communality with respect to a normative group on a dimension defined by contrast with a criterion group. Method variance is due to the idiosyncratic nature of the total item pool in regard to the proportion of true and false keyings and the distribution of item popularity values. (Stylistic variance includes dispositions to agree (acquiescence) or disagree (cautiousness) with neutral statements, independently of item content." In these terms, relevant research with the MMPI is reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of mean scores on MMPI scales.

The accuracy of an equation for predicting raw score means on personality scales, based upon social desirability consideration, was tested using 57 MMPI scales. It was found that 25% of the predicted means were in error by less than 1 point, 51% by 2 points or less, and 70% by 3 points or less. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Simulation of normal and psychopathic MMPI personality patterns.

Previous work with the simulation of normalcy on personality tests has suggested that good adjustment involves an adequate understanding of socially approved behavior. 27 well-adjusted and 42 maladjusted college males took the MMPI under instructions to simulate very good adjustment, and again under instructions to simulate psychopathic personality. Both groups simulated very good adjustment satisfactorily; however, well-adjusted Ss were superior to maladjusted Ss in the simulation of psychopathic personality. The findings were consistent with the literature on role-taking and empathy, supporting the view that good adjustment involves an ability to understand and predict socially adequate and inadequate behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Further comments on the internal structure of the MMPI.

The Shure and Rogers findings are examined in relation to other studies in which the factor structure of the MMPI basic scales obtained with actual data is compared to the structure based merely on item overlap among the scales. There is no direct experimental evidence that spurious correlations yield a "built-in" factor structure that is the direct cause of the structure obtained with experimental Ss in the 10 MMPI basic clinical scales. A more concervative interpretation of the Shure and Rogers findings is suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of the MMPI for cross-cultural personality study: A preliminary report on the German translation.

Structured personality tests have seldom been used in intercultural comparisons, but present certain advantages over other techniques. The first study using a German translation of the MMPI has been reported. German men and women attending a summer course at the University of Marburg in 1948 showed profiles significantly higher on most scales than American students. Since there is a mixture of factors which might have effects, interpretation of the results is not clear, but the method seems to merit serious attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of the MMPI with student nurses.

The group form of the MMPI was administered to 81 freshmen student nurses, and a matched group of 50 freshmen college women. The data were compared with norms published by Weisgerber (see 29: 967) and Beaver (see 29: 1484). Despite some differences, it is concluded that the Iowa nurses accord with Weisgerber's norms. Although a significant difference between nurses and non-nurses is found on Beaver's scale (comprising 65 MMPI items) however, only 13 items significantly differentiate between the groups, and 27 produce characteristic answers opposite to the ones cited by Beaver. "It is concluded that… (Beaver's)… scale needs considerably more study and validation before it could possibly be used… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acquiescence, hypontic susceptibility, and the MMPI.

The rather discouraging results of using standard personality inventories in attempts to predict hypnosis have been the subject of recent reviews. This is a report on one Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) measure (the Sum-True score) that has yielded a small but significant correlation with hypnosis for both male and female subjects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of mean scores on MMPI scales: A reply.

The practical utility of Edwards' prediction equation was re-examined as well as other psychometric issues raised by him. It was concluded again that the SD scale is not an effective substitute for the MMPI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parole outcome as predicted from the CPI, the MMPI, and a Base Expectancy table.

Parole outcomes for 183 violators and 261 nonviolators (initial sample), and 130 violators and 165 nonviolators (cross-validating sample) were forecast from demographic and personality inventory data. The best single source of prediction in the cross-validating sample was a demographic Base Expectancy index. The best combination was given by an equation including this index, the socialization, selfcontrol, and communality scales of the CPI with positive weightings, and the social presence scale of the CPI with a negative weighting. Conceptual analysis of the equation from the CPI, MMPI, and CPI + MMPI revealed a clear dimension of psychological meaning, having significance for normal as well as for deviant behavior. (44 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item popularity and social desirability in the MMPI.

While the popularity of an item is partially a function of its judged social desirability (SD), reliable item preferences also occur which are independent of a general SD variable and which in some cases may have greater predictive power. 4 analyses showed: (1) The proportion of true responses to MMPI items obtained from 10 disparate groups contained 40%-52% common variance on the average across items classed as very desirable, desirable, neutral, undesirable, and very undesirable. (2) With SD controlled, intergroup partial rs were all significant (     

Combined MMPI and demographic data in predicting length of neuropsychiatric hospital stay.

Data available on 316 psychiatric patients, soon after admission to a hospital, were used in a multiple regression formula and in less formal statistical techniques to predict length of stay. Demographic and MMPI predictors made possible early identification of long stay patients at greater than base rate frequency. The asymptote of prediction was reached when 6 of 24 variables had been included, suggesting that further search in the area would be redundant. Prediction with the 5 prediction schema was stable on a cross-validation sample of 352. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of the MMPI in the selection of hospital aides.

MMPIs were administered to 2700 applicants for the position of psychiatric aide in an institution for the mentally retarded. MMPI subscale scores of all persons hired and subsequently discharged were compared with groups of like sex who: (a) were hired in the same year but resigned for reasons not associated with the job, (b) stayed in the employment of the institution, or (c) were not hired. No single subscale differentiated between the groups. The few differences which were found between the groups when a variety of configurational analyses were used did not reappear in a cross-validation sample. Conclusion: the hypothesis that personality test scores are related to the competency of psychiatric aides was not supported. From Psyc Abstracts 36:05:5LD34B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the prediction of academic achievement by use of the MMPI.

ACE and MMPI clerical scale scores were correlated with grade-point average for a sample of 267 freshman women. The correlation between ACE and GPA (after correction for attenuation in the GPA) was .48; the highest multiple correlation, corrected for shrinkage, was .64. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI: Professional use by professional people.

Aletter in answer to Mr. R., who inquired about the use of items relating to religion in the MMPI and pointed out that there are laws against inquiry about religious affiliation, is reproduced. "There is a well-recognized pattern of psychological distortion to which we apply the term "religiosity." There are also "frankly stated items on sex,… on body functions,… on certain occupations… " etc. Respondents "may omit any item they do not wish to answer for whatever purpose." Separate scores are derived on groups of items in the MMPI called scales; via machine scoring standard scores are derived which are "remote from the particular items that make up a scale. The MMPI is an experimentally derived instrument." If an item counts on a scale, it is on the basis of responses with well defined groups of maladjusted or mentally ill persons. "Tests are not offensive elements; the offensive elements, if any, come with the misuse of tests." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)