MMPI differences among Mexican-American male and female psychiatric inpatients

The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent Mexican-American male and female psychiatric patients, who share similar DSM-III--R diagnoses, differ on the MMPI. Differences were found on the Infrequency, Masculinity-Femininity, and Paranoia scales, with the 39 men obtaining significantly higher scores than the 21 women. These results, while suggesting possible differences in the phenomenology of depression, also suggest that MMPI differences between Mexican-American men and women may be reflective of culturally-defined sex roles. These results, when taken within the context of Mexican-American MMPI literature, indicate that researchers should always attempt to account for "gender" when conducting cross-ethnic MMPI comparisons. The practice of grouping the MMPIs of Mexican-American men and women for comparison with other ethnic groups should be discontinued in favor of comparisons that consider the effects of gender and ethnicity.