Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

• MMPI was created by Starke R. Hathaway and J. C. McKinley
• MMPI is copyrighted by the University of Minnesota
• MMPI used an empirical criterion keying approach
• MMPI was designed as an adult measure of psychopathology and personality structure
• MMPI Original had 567 true or false items
• MMPI Original required 60 to 90 minutes to complete
• MMPI-2 was the result of a restandardization project in 1989
• MMPI-2 has 567 items like the original MMPI
• MMPI-2 takes 1-2 hours to complete depending on reading level
• MMPI-2 requires a sixth-grade reading level
• MMPI-2 Abbreviated form consists of the first 370 items
• Restructured Clinical Scales were added to MMPI-2 in 2003
• Demoralization was identified and removed from the original Clinical Scales in MMPI-2
• MMPI-A is for adolescents ages 14 to 18
• MMPI-A is not meant for those younger than 14
• For 18-year-olds no longer in high school, MMPI-2 should be used
• MMPI-A Original has 478 items
• MMPI-A Short form consists of 350 items covering basic scales
• MMPI-A 10 clinical scales

  • Hs
  • D
  • Hy
  • Pd
  • Mf
  • Pa
  • Pt
  • Sc
  • Ma
  • Si
• MMPI-A Original Validity Scales

  • ?
  • L
  • F
  • F1
  • F2
  • K
  • VRIN
  • TRIN
• MMPI-A Original Harris Lingoes subscales

  • 31 subscales
• MMPI-A Original Content Component Scales

  • 15 scales
• MMPI-A Original Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) scales

  • AGGR
  • PSYC
  • DISC
  • NEGE
  • INTR
• MMPI-A Original Social Introversion Subscales

  • Shyness/Self-Consciousness
  • Social Avoidance
  • Alienation
• MMPI-A Original Supplementary Scales


  • A
  • R
  • MAC-R
  • ACK
  • PRO
  • IMM
• MMPI-A Four Factors

  • General Maladjustment
  • Over-control (repression)
  • Si (Social Introversion)
  • MF (Masculine/Feminine)
• MMPI-2-RF was introduced in 2008 to fine-tune the measure psychometrically and theoretically
• MMPI-2-RF contains 338 items
• MMPI-2-RF contains 9 validity scales and 42 homogeneous substantive scales
• MMPI-A-RF was released in 2016 using the original 567 items from MMPI-2
• MMPI-2-RF restandardization norms are based on over 53,000 correlations with more than 600 reference criteria
• MMPI-2-RF Original Scales

  • Hypochondriasis
  • Depression
  • Hysteria
  • Psychopathic D
• Over 53,000 correlations based on more than 600 reference criteria
• MMPI-2-RF (Restructure Form) Scales

  • Hypochondriasis
  • Depression
  • Hysteria
  • Psychopathic Deviate
  • Masculinity/Femininity
  • Paranoia
  • Psychasthenia
  • Schizophrenia
  • Hypomania
  • Social Introversion
• MMPI-2-RF: Restructured Scales

  • Distress linked with anxiety, depression
  • Unexplainable physical symptoms
  • Anhedonia
  • Negative world-view
  • Acting out, social deviance
  • Tendency for paranoid delusions
  • Worry, fearfulness, etc
  • Risk for psychosis
  • Mania, excitability
• MMPI-2-RF: Validity Scales

  • Questions not answered
  • Client “faking good”
  • Client “faking bad” (in first half of test)
  • Denial/Evasiveness
  • Client “faking bad” (in last half of test)
  • Answering similar/opposite question pairs inconsistently
  • Answering questions all true/all false
  • Honesty of test response/not faking good or bad
  • Improving upon K scale, “appearing excessively good”
  • Frequency of presentation in clinical setting
  • Overreporting of somatic symptoms
• Anxiety


  General symptoms of anxiety, somatic problems, nervousness or worry
• Fear


  Specific fears and general fearfulness
• Obsessiveness


  Difficulty making decisions, excessive rumination, and dislike change
• Depression


  Feelings of low mood, lack or energy, suicidal ideation, and other depressive features