The Differential Responding of Male Prisoners to Subtle and Obvious MCMI Subscales

We investigated the differential responding of 100 male inmates to subtle and obvious MCMI scale items; subtlety was determined by judgments by college students. It has been predicted that item subtlety would be positively correlated with item endorsement. This prediction was supported across all 175 MCMI items. as well as across items on 7 of 8 personality and 8 of 12 clinical scales. It had also been predicted that education and intelligence would moderate the relationship between subtlety and endorsement, with inmates higher in education and intelligence demonstrating a greater tendency than other inmates to avoid obvious items. Modest support was obtained for this prediction, with statistically significant results found for 4 personality and 5 clinical scales. The significance of the subtle-obvious distinction is discussed, especially when employing the MCMI with an inmate population.     

Factor structure of the MCMI basic personality scales and common-item artifact

The eight basic personality scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) were derived from Millon's theory of personality, but the adequacy of the MCMI for measuring Millon's personality constructs has never been assessed. One major problem with using factor analysis to illuminate the structure of the MCMI personality scales is that artifactual structure may result from item overlap among the scales. To analyze this, item-overlap coefficients were factored and compared to the factor structures of five subject samples. For the eight basic personality scales, three factors emerged for the overlap matrix and each of the five sample matrices: Aloof-Social, Aggressive-Submissive, and Lability-Restraint. It was concluded that these three factors are inconsistent with Millon's theory and that they will be found artifactually across a wide variety of populations due to overlapping items.     

Factor Structure of the MCMI Basic Personality Scales and Common-Item Artifact

The eight basic personality scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial inventory (MCMI) were derived from Millon's theory of personality, but the adequacy of the MCMI for measuring Millon's personality constructs has never been assessed. One major problem with using factor analysis to illuminate the structure of the MCMI personality scales is that artifactual structure may result from item overlap among the scales. To analyze this, item-overlap coefficients were factored and compared to the factor structures of five subject samples. For the eight basic personality scales, three factors emerged for the overlap matrix and each of the five sample matrices: Aloof-Social, Aggressive-Submissive, and Lability-Restraint. It was concluded that these three factors are inconsistent with Millon's theory and that they will be found artifactually across a wide variety of populations due to overlapping items.     

The Role of Defense Mechanisms in Borderline and Antisocial Personalities

Fifty-eight adult male felons were given the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), and the Draw-a-Person Test (DAP) to test the relative sensitivity of subtlety or obviousness of items to response Sets. The inmates were randomly assigned to three response set groups: a fake-aggressive group, a fake-nonaggressive group, and a standard-instruction control group. The MMPIs were scored for five obvious and five subtle aggression or hostility research scales. The BDHI is a totally obvious test, whereas the DAP is a very subtle measure. A paradoxical relationship between response set and subtlety of the scales was hypothesized, such that the obvious scales could be successfully faked, hut the subtle scales would show scores in the opposite from the intended direction. It was found that the inmates did correctly manipulate the obvious scales, but the subtle scales did not consistently show the hypothesized trend. Possible reasons for this are discussed, including the nature of the scales used and characteristics of the population.     

The relationship between MCMI subtlety and severity

Wierzbicki (Wierzbicki & Daleiden, 1993; Wierzbicki & Howard, 1992) has suggested that the Subtle-Obvious distinction may be useful for detecting faking on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI; Millon, 1983). This study examined Schretlen's (1990) criticism that, on the MMPI, subtlety is confounded with severity. Nine clinical psychology graduate students rated MCMI items for severity. Severity was significantly correlated (r = -.48) with item subtlety. However, this association was lower than that reported by Schretlen on the MMPI.     

Predicting the Completion of an Integrative and Intensive Outpatient Chronic Pain Treatment With the Personality Assessment Inventory

The X-zero distinction has been used as the operational definition of MMPI item subtlety in previous research. A consistent finding has been that the X items, which are obvious in terms of pathological content, can be faked whereas the more subtle zero items cannot be faked. The present study examined the relationship between instructional sets and endorsement patterns, using a more refined, comprehensive measure of item subtlety. Sixty (30 male, 30 female) subjects completed two MMPI protocols, one under a standard instructional set and the other under either a fake-good or fake-bad response set. Order of administration and sex were counterbalanced. In general, the findings for the subtle-obvious dimension paralleled the previous findings with the X-zero distinction. Endorsement of obvious items was a direct function of instructional set, whereas endorsement of subtle items was inversely related to instructional set. Because subtle items did not appear to measure the constructs for which they had been originally intended, other uses for subtle items were discussed.     

The Relationship Between MCMI Subtlety and Severity

Wierzbicki (Wierzbicki & Daleiden, 1993; Wierzbicki & Howard, 1992) has suggested that the Subtle-Obvious distinction may be useful for detecting faking on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI; Millon, 1983). This study examined Schretlen's (1990) criticism that, on the MMPI, subtlety is confounded with severity. Nine clinical psychology graduate students rated MCMI items for severity. Severity was significantly correlated (r = -.48) with item subtlety. However, this association was lower than that reported by Schretlen on the MMPI.     

Do personality scale items function differently in people with high and low IQ?

Intelligence differences might contribute to true differences in personality traits. It is also possible that intelligence might contribute to differences in understanding and interpreting personality items. Previous studies have not distinguished clearly between these possibilities. Before it can be accepted that scale score differences actually reflect personality differences, personality items should show measurement invariance. The authors used item response theory to test measurement invariance in the five-factor model scales of the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) and NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) across two groups of participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 with relatively low and high cognitive abilities. Each group consisted of 320 individuals, with equal numbers of men and women. The mean IQ difference of the groups was 21 points. It was found that the IPIP and NEO-FFI items were measurement invariant across all five scales, making it possible to conclude that any differences in IPIP and NEO-FFI scores between people with low and high cognitive abilities reflected personality trait differences.     

Stability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory among psychiatric inpatients

This study investigated the stability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in a sample of psychiatric inpatients over a longer time period and from different perspectives than previous reliability studies. Test-retest reliability was assessed from three perspectives: correlation/regression, equivalence of dimensional structures across testings upon different admissions, and stability of personality style across testings. Some stability from a correlational perspective was found, with higher stability estimates indicated for the basic personality scales in comparison with the clinical symptom scales which is consistent with Millon's theory. The internal structure of the MCMI was essentially identical across testings. Although source of reinforcement and instrumental or coping style were stable across testings beyond chance, the MCMI profiles of a considerable number of subjects were inconsistent across testings. Correspondingly, clinicians should be cautious in using the MCMI to make categorical decisions regarding personality style with inpatients who are tested at admission and who have had repeated hospitalizations.     

MMPI item subtlety research: current issues and directions

This article examines the methodology from recent item subtlety research with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The Christian, Burkhart, and Gynther (1978) ratings, used in this research, define item subtlety as the perceived degree of psychopathology associated with individual items rather than specifying subtlety in relation to qualities characteristic of individual scales. Consequently, the ratings often violate commonsense notions of subtlety, and the results of research with the ratings are difficult to interpret. Studies with the ratings also contain procedural defects which limit generality. It is recommended that future investigators give greater consideration to the operational definition of item subtlety, to the intended applications of the MMPI, and to item properties other than simple correlations with criteria that can enhance the predictive and discriminative powers of MMPI scales.     

Type A Personality,Self-Control,and Vulnerability to Stress

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) was released in 1992 and has rapidly become the most widely used objective personality assessment instrument with adolescents. Although the MMPI-A reduced or eliminated several problems associated with the use of the original MMPI (Hathaway &; McKinley, 1943) with adolescents, the MMPI-A does produce a high frequency of within normal limits basic scale profiles for individuals with substantial psychopathology including adolescents in inpatient psychiatric settings. To better understand the reasons for this phenomenon, we compared the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-A normative sample with results from two adolescent clinical samples, and these results were contrasted to the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, &; Kaemmer, 1989) normative sample and a clinical sample of adult psychiatric inpatients. Results showed that the MMPI-A contains a substantial number of items that do not show a significant difference in item endorsement frequency between normative and clinical samples. Furthermore, MMPI-A basic and content scales generally show a much lower percentage of effective items than do the corresponding scales for the MMPI-2. We discuss the findings in relation to the frequent occurrence of low range MMPI-A profiles in clinical samples and the potential usefulness of these results in future efforts to develop viable short forms for the MMPI-A.     

The effectiveness of MMPI-A items in discriminating between normative and clinical samples.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) was released in 1992 and has rapidly become the most widely used objective personality assessment instrument with adolescents. Although the MMPI-A reduced or eliminated several problems associated with the use of the original MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) with adolescents, the MMPI-A does produce a high frequency of within normal limits basic scale profiles for individuals with substantial psychopathology including adolescents in inpatient psychiatric settings. To better understand the reasons for this phenomenon, we compared the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-A normative sample with results from two adolescent clinical samples, and these results were contrasted to the item endorsement frequencies for the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) normative sample and a clinical sample of adult psychiatric inpatients. Results showed that the MMPI-A contains a substantial number of items that do not show a significant difference in item endorsement frequency between normative and clinical samples. Furthermore, MMPI-A basic and content scales generally show a much lower percentage of effective items than do the corresponding scales for the MMPI-2. We discuss the findings in relation to the frequent occurrence of low range MMPI-A profiles in clinical samples and the potential usefulness of these results in future efforts to develop viable short forms for the MMPI-A.     

A response Consistency statistic for the millon clinical multiaxial inventory (MCMI)

Response style in objective psychological testing is an important issue in the reliability and validity of tests as well as in the interpretation of test results. The MCMI provides two response-style indices, the validity scale and the weight factor. The present work presents an additional statistic to assess random response in subjects. The Consistency Coefficient is the correlation between the subjects' endorsement of even and odd items across the 20 MCMI scales. The distributions of 500 patient and 500 randomly generated profiles were compared. Good separation between these distributions was found. The subject data were extremely negatively skewed, whereas the randomly generated data were normally distributed. Data are presented that display positive and negative predictive values, as well as sensitivity and specificity across ranges of prevalence and cut score. These data facilitate the identification of subjects who respond to the MCMI in a random manner so that their scores can be interpreted accordingly.     

Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) scores with a collegiate sample: Long-term stability and self-other agreement

This study examined (a) the stability of the personality and symptom scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) for a sample of university undergraduates and (b) the correspondence between MCMI scores from self-report versus scores obtained from knowledgeable others who responded by describing the subject rather than themselves. The MCMI was administered to subjects during their freshman year and then again during their senior year. As in clinical populations, stability estimates in this collegiate sample were greater for the basic personality scales than for the symptom scales. Comparison of the results with those from previous studies further showed that the stability coefficients for the collegiate sample were somewhat lower overall than those from treatment follow-up studies with clinical populations. The results also showed that reasonable agreement between self- and others' ratings was obtained on most MCMI scales. The greatest agreement was found for scales that reflect more observable behaviors and relate to an introversion-extroversion dimension, whereas the least agreement was found for scales related to a psychoticism dimension. Lower levels of agreement were also found for scales having a lower mean proportion of items endorsed.This study was sponsored in part by PHS Grant R01 MH31750-01-6, by PHS Grant 5R01 AA06754-01-03, and by funds from the University of Connecticut Research Foundation and Computer Center.     

The stability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory for psychiatric inpatients

This study investigated the stability of the personality and symptom scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) for a sample of psychiatric inpatients. Patients were administered the MCMI shortly following admission and shortly preceding discharge. As would be expected theoretically, results indicated that stability estimates were greater for the basic personality scales than for the symptom scales. These results were also compared with results from a previous study investigating the stability of MCMI scales. Overall, stability coefficients for the inpatient sample were lower than those reported for other samples. Possible explanations for this and other findings are discussed.     

Stuck in the Middle: The Use and Interpretation of Mid-Points in Items on Questionnaires

Likert-type scales are commonly used when assessing attitudes, personality characteristics, and other psychological variables. This study examined the effect of varying the number of response options on the same set of 28 attitudinal items. Participants answered items using either a 4-point scale (forced choice), a 5-point scale that included a “neither” mid-point, or a 4-point scale with an option of “no opinion” presented after the item. The questionnaire also included an item asking participants what they believe the midpoint in a scale indicated. As predicted, participants’ interpretations of the midpoint varied widely with the most common responses being: “no opinion,” “don't care,” “unsure,” “neutral,” “equal/both,” and “neither.” The quantitative results showed that participants’ levels of item endorsement varied based on the response options offered. For example, “neither” was chosen more often than “no opinion” on all of the items.     

Abortion attitudes, 1984-1987-1988: effects of item order and dimensionality.

The comparability of surveys is often hampered by differences in the item order of presentation. The major focus of the present study was to investigate whether a general item or a specific item at the beginning of the questionnaire would affect the endorsement as well as the scalability of a set of attitude items. By using a quasi-A-B-A experimental design for the six abortion items that appeared in the Edmonton Area Survey for the years 1984, 1987, and 1988, we found that the order of presentation of the items affected dramatically the endorsement of the abortion items. Approval of a general item was considerably higher when asked first than when asked after a specific item. In contrast, it was shown by means of a nonparametric item response theory model (the Mokken scale analysis) that the unidimensionality of the six abortion items was not affected by the manipulations of item order (i.e., the six abortion items measured the same concept in the three surveys). It was concluded that the six items are unidimensional and, therefore, create a single scale to measure the change in abortion attitudes across the three periods.     

Stability of the personality and symptom scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory

This study examines the stability of the basic and pathological personality and symptom scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in three clinical samples. Consistent with the theory upon which the MCMI is based, higher stability estimates were found among basic personality scales in comparison with symptom scales. However, stability estimates which included initial MCMI administrations at intake into treatment were generally lower than those based upon administrations which occurred later in the treatment process. This later finding suggests the need to consider timing of administration when interpreting the MCMI.     

Aggressive response sets and subtle-obvious MMPI scale distinctions in male offenders

The effects of aggressive and nonaggressive response sets on the MMPI subtle and obvious clinical subscales were investigated. Fifty-eight male prison inmates answered the MMPI as if they were either highly aggressive or highly nonaggressive. The clinical scales with sufficient items in each category were scored for subtle, neutral, and obvious subscales. Inmates successfully feigned aggressiveness on several of the obvious subscales (p = .0056) and one neutral scale; the subtle subscales were not significantly different across groups, consistent with previous research on this population in terms of the resistance of subtle items to these response sets.     

Evidence for Context Switching in the Effects of Average Item Length and Item-Length Variability on Internal Consistency

This investigation examined the effects of 3 item characteristics—the average number of words per item, within-scale variability in item length, and item “direction”—on internal consistency reliability and interitem correlation. In Study 1, we examined the effects of these variables on overall scale-level reliability using 444 subscales from 9 personality scales. In Study 2, we examined interitem correlation at the paired-item level using 477 nonredundant item pairs from 14 personality scales. Lower scale reliability was associated with more average words per item, greater within-scale variability in item length, and a greater percentage of reverse-keyed items. Similarly, smaller interitem correlations were associated with a greater degree of mismatch in item length between the paired items and with a mismatch (vs. match) in the items' respective “directions.” The pattern of results across both studies supports our notion that lower internal consistency results from increased context switching; that is, from the confusion that occurs when respondents must switch back and forth between the interpretive frames pertaining to short versus long items, or between items pertaining to one pole of a personality dimension and its “opposite” pole. Suggestions for maximizing the internal consistency of personality scales are proposed.