Scale 1'
H O W TO I N T E R P R E T M M P I - 2
Interpret scales keeping in mind that even slight changes in the relationship of L, F, and K
to each other can change the elevation and configuration of the scales. Next look
at the highest scales on the MMPI-2 , MMPI-A and MMPI profiles. Use the
subscales to help interpret the main clinical scales. Use the extra scales and
formulas to help with your interpretation. The higher the elevation of a scale
relative to other scales, and the more elevations in similar scales, the more
descriptors of that scale may apply. Each scale qualifies the interpretation every
other scale. For example, if Sc is high, and higher than the other clinical scales,
and Sc3, PaO, Psychoticism, Bizarre Mentation and the Goldberg Index are all
>T65, then an interpretation of psychosis is likely. Also if Pd is > T65, and PdS,
Pd1, Family Problems, FAM, MDS are high and PdO, ANG, and ASP are not
high, then interpret the Pd scale as not indicative of psychopathic tendencies, but
reflective of family problems. The opposite would be indicative of psychopathic
tendencies. Inconsistent information may be descriptive of the person's own
conflicts and inconsistencies. Information from history and interview can help
resolve apparent inconsistencies.
Brief Interpretations
"MMPI- 2 HIGH SCALE CODE INTERPRETATION"
The typical person with a similar profile configuration:
Look for the two highest scores >T64 on the basic MMPI-2 scales (1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,and 0).
If this criteria is not met, then go to the next rule: if L.>6, K>22, L and K T> F Tscore, F-
K<-19, Repression >T69 and Anxiety < T60,
then shift the criteria down to include>T62.
If these criteria are not met, print statements from any single elevated scale .
If 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,6, or K>22, or L and K both > F, -Repression>T69 and-
Anxiety("XY/YX" means the two highest clinical scales beyond T64." X' " or "spike"
means the only clinical scale beyond T64.)
If K<10 print "Blunt, critical, inadequate defenses, poor self concept, low ego strength."
If 3,4 or 8 < T45 always print "Overly conventional and constricted."
1
If between T60 and T65, print "Uses somatization and repression to cope. May over focus
on symptoms, use reality assurances. Rule out actual organic disease or injury."
If age >69 add, "Aged individuals may elevate this scale by 10T, due to physical aging,
not personality." If between T66-T75 add "May demand treatment but needs to derogate
any assistance. May not be psychologically minded. Complaints are often an indirect
expression of dependency or hostility."
If >T75, add to above, "Look for somatic delusions, or exaggeration."
If >T100 and L>T65, add, "Rule out malingering,"
12/21 - "Hypochondriacal with somatization, exaggerates symptoms, complains of pain,
fatigue, anxiety, depression; passive-dependent, frequently seeks other medical opinions
when psychological factors are suggested. Can not see problems as psychological in
nature. Medical intervention should be conservative. Prognosis is guarded." If Scale Sc6
is >T64, also print "Look for somatic delusions."
13/31- "Possibly converting psychological problems into physical complaints; denial and
repression makes psychological intervention difficult. Threatened by any suggestion of
psychological problems. Likely to develop actual physical symptoms under stress." (Add
only if age >60, "Older patients are more likely to have organic involvement.")
"Prognosis for psychotherapy is guarded, but supportive or directive therapy during crisis
periods may reduce symptoms." If scale 7 is >T64 add "Look for possible panic attacks,
severe anxiety, and phobias". If Scale Sc6 >T64, add "Look for somatic delusions." 14/41
"Chronic hypochondriacal personality. Irritable, prone to psychosomatic problems,
manipulative,egocentric, pessimistic, poor insight, resistant." If PdO>T64 add, " Hostility
and projection of blame."
16/61 "Hypochondriacal, possible somatic delusions, overly sensitive, projection of
blame, stubborn, poor insight, resistant."
17/71 "Hypochondriasis chronic anxiety with obsessive-compulsive features. Very
demanding, resistant."
18/81 "Pain, fatigue, possible somatic delusions, lack of trust, socially inadequate,
resistant."
19/91 "Hypochondriacal, tense, restless, agitated. Psychosomatic complaints, resistant."
Add "Passive-aggressive" if 4>T64.
Scale 2'
If T60-T64, print "Moderately depressed, worrying, and pessimistic. Prognosis for insight
therapy is usually good."
If >T64, print instead "Very depressed. Worried, pessimistic, self-depreciation,
internalizes stress. Likely to have difficulty in making decisions."
23/32 - "Depression and hysteroid defenses, various psychosomatic complaints, self-
doubt, immaturity, apathy, tension, dependency, often resistant to any psychological
interpretation." If F and 8>T69, or DO >T65 add "Look for a major depression."
24/42 - "Depressed and hostile, acting out with later remorse; self-defeating behaviors;
resistant, low frustration tolerance. Family difficulties, immature, dependent, egocentric."
If F and 8>T69, add "Poor reality testing."
26/62 - "Extremely sensitive, depressed; anger is channeled into both self blame and other
blame. Feels victimized." If PaO>T64 add, " Paranoid trends." If F, 8 or 9>T69,
BIZ>T65, add "Poor reality testing".
27/72 - "Anxious and depressed, psychosomatic complaints, low self-esteem,
intropunitive, obsessive-compulsive." If8>T69 or F>T69, or DO>T65 add "Look for a
major depression."
28/82 - "Depression, anxiety, agitation, confusion, suspicious, psychosomatic complaints,
possible major depression, fear of relationships, resistant." If F>T69, BIZ>T65, add "Poor
reality testing".
29/92 - "Depression and agitation, psychosomatic complaints, check for agitated
depression, or bipolar disorder."
Scale 3'
If T60-T65, print "Somatization during periods of stress."
If >T65, add "Converts denied psychological conflicts into physical symptoms." If HyS
>HyO add,"Very naive and overly trusting. Repression of aggression. "If HyO=/>HyS
2
add,"Very resistant to insight. Utilizes denial of aggression. Strong dependency needs,
naive, seeks concrete solutions to psychological problems."
34/43 - "Passive-aggressive, episodic acting out, poor impulse control, seductive,
dissociations, conversion reactions, resistant to insight." If PdO>T65 and male, add
"Look for explosive hostility."
36/63 - " Psychosomatic complaints, externalizes blame, resistant to any psychological
insights." If PaO>T65 add, "Hostile and suspicious."
37/73 - "Psychosomatic complaints, anxiety, denial of psychological problems."
38/83 - "Depression, anxiety, psychosomatic complaints, dissociative reactions, somatic
delusions, hostile, dependent, little insight." If F>T69, BIZ>T65, add "Poor reality
testing".
39/93 - "Psychosomatic complaints, anxiety attacks, conversion reactions, irritable,
aggression compensating for an underlying dependency."
Scale 4'
If T60-T64, print "Non-conforming, energetic" Do not print if 2>T59, or 3 or 8
If >T79, or PdO >T64 add "Poor judgment, impulsive, hostile, egocentric, anti-authority,
addictive tendencies."
46/64 - "Hostile, passive-aggressive, externalizes blame, very demanding, resentful, poor
relationships, psychosomatic problems, prognosis for psychotherapy is guarded." If Scale
Sc6 is >T65, add "Look for somatic delusions."
47/74 - "Anxiety, anger, acting out and periods of guilt."
48/84 - "Psychosomatic complaints, poor ability to relate to others, thought disorder,
acting out, prognosis for psychotherapy is guarded."
49/94 - "Impulsive, acting out, narcissistic, prognosis for psychotherapy is guarded." If
Scale 6 is>T64, add "Look for possible explosive outbursts of aggression." Add, if 4 or 9
is >T74, or PdO>T64 "Irresponsible, resentful, manipulative, hostile, poor judgment,
tendencies toward substance abuse."
Mf1 - If >T65 print,"Hypersensitive, easily hurt, anxious, dependent, low moral." 79/97 - "Psychosomatic complaints, chronically anxious, agitated, impulsive acts
followed by guilt feelings."

Scale 6'
Scale 8'
If T60-T64, print "Overly Sensitive."
If T60-T64, print "Tends to be over invested in fantasy."
If T65-T75 and PaS>PaO add, "Thin skinned, confused about trust, sets self up to feel
victimized." If >T64, add "Eccentric, confused, withdrawn, may have a thought disorder."

If T65-75 and PaS=/ If > T79 and F>T69, add "Poor reality testing".

If >T75, PaO>T65 add," Look for delusions of persecution and maltreatment."67/76 - If BIZ > T65 add, "May be psychotic."
"Tense, rigid, overly sensitive, suspicious, indirectly hostile, prognosis for psychotherapy
is guarded." 89/98 - "Confusion, anxiety, depression, hyperactive, emotionally labile, thought disorder,
hostility, poor reality testing, projection, insightless and resentful. Prognosis for
68/86 - "Depression, suspiciousness, thought disorder, delusions, poor reality testing." If psychotherapy is guarded."
BIZ>T65 add, "May be psychotic."
If BIZ>T65 add, "May be psychotic."
69/96 - "Extreme anxiety, hostility, suspiciousness, delusions, grandiosity, poor reality
testing. Prognosis for psychotherapy is guarded." If BIZ>T65 add, "May be psychotic." Scale 9'

Scale 7' If T60-T64, print, "Active and outgoing."

If T60-T64, print "Uses rationalization and intellectualization." IfT65-T70, print instead "Hyperactive, agitated." If 9>T70, MaO>T65, add "Irritable,
impulsive, acting-out, grandiose."
If T65-T75 add "Psychosomatic complaints, perfectionistic, self-critical, anxious,
indecisive." If >T80, add "Poor reality testing."

If >T75, add "Susceptible to phobias and obsessions." Scale Si-0

78/87 - If Scale 7>8, print "Psychosomatic complaints, anxiety, depression, withdrawn,
obsessive, confused, poor social adjustment."
If Scale 8 =/>7, print instead, "Poor social adjustment, thought disorder, poor reality
testing, confusion, anxiety, depression, prognosis for psychotherapy is guarded."If
BIZ>T65 add, "May be psychotic."
If T<44, print "Socially outgoing, need for social approval."
If T44-T59,print"Capacity to maintain rewarding social relationships, if ego-syntonic
pathology is ruled out."(But do not print this if L, F,1,4,6,8,9,>T64; K<10)
If T60-64, print "Shy and reserved in certain social situations."

3
If>T65,print instead "Introverted and shy, difficulties expressing self to others."
Definitions of MMPI/MMPI-2 scales:
Scales of Validity and Bias
TR Test-Retest (Buechley and Bell, 1952) (MMPI only) 16 repeated items. Independent
of any other MMPI scale, independent of faking to look good or bad. Scores higher than 4
indicate a possible scoring error, reading difficulties, cooperation problems, or confusion.
A valuable scale.
Cls Carelessness scale (Greene, 1978) (MMPI, replaced by the VRIN on the MMPI-2).
12 pairs of psychologically related items.
Scores higher than 6 may be due to the same problems as the Test-retest Index, or due to
conflicts or ambivalence. It is best used with the Test-retest Index (Nichols, Greene
&Schmolick, 1989).
? Scale - Cannot Say (MMPI/MMPI-2). A tally of omitted items. High scores may be
due to obsessiveness, defensiveness, difficulty in reading, confusion, hostility, or
paranoia. It is important to look for a pattern that may exist in the items that are left
blank. More than ten left unanswered may be of clinical significance. Twenty or more left
unanswered should be considered significant.
L Lie Scale (Hathaway and McKinley, 1951) (MMPI 15 items, MMPI-2, 15 items).
High: (> Raw 5 for either the MMPI or the MMPI-2). Tendency to create a favorable
impression as a response bias, conventional, rigid, moralistic, repression, denial, and
insightless. A high L can mean anything from a very well mannered normal wanting to
give a good impression, to a compensated paranoid. A high L will submerge scales of
obvious psychopathology, and inflate scales of healthy functioning such as the Ego
Strength scale.
Low: ( Raw 3 on the MMPI or the MMPI-2). Admitting to minor faults and
shortcomings, independent, self-reliant.
F Scale - Infrequency (Hathaway &McKinley, 1951) (MMPI, 64 items; MMPI-2, 60
items).
4
Very high (>T99) possible random, exaggerated, or misscored profile. Very high scores
(T> 90) commonly found with schizophrenic patients. High scores (>T70), best measure
of overall psychopathology, resentment, acting out, moodiness. Mostly elevations in the F
scale are due to psychopathology; high item overlap with scale 8.
Low scores (T45), possible fake good profile.
K Scale - Defensiveness (McKinley, Hathaway &Meehl, 1948). (MMPI, 30 items;
MMPI-2, 30 items). K is a subtle and valuable correction for defensiveness. However, a
high K is also associated with high education and socio-economic status. That is, people
who are highly educated and getting along well with other individuals, should score
moderately high on the K scale. The K scale was derived from individuals who were
hospitalized, clearly having serious psychological problems and yet producing normal
profiles. They were being defensive by claiming that they had no psychological problems.
K assumes psychopathology.
High ( >Raw 22 on MMPI or MMPI-2). If there are signs of psychopathology, high K
indicates defensiveness, insightlessness, intolerance, dogmatism, and being controlling.
Very high scores are always a sign of defensiveness. Moderately high scores with
individuals who are college educated and appear to be fairly well adjusted,are normal.
Fb - Back F scale (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Grahm & Tellegen, 1989). (MMPI-2) 40 items
found after item 280. Developed like the F scale, it is made up of items that are endorsed
less than 10% of the time by normals (but frequently by disturbed individuals). If Fb is
above T999, and F is not high, then the individual may have randomly responded to the
latter part of the test. This is more likely than the other possible interpretation, namely
that the testee decompensated toward the end of the test.
Ds Dissimulation Scale (Gough,1954); (58 items); developed on true neurotics verses
normals faking neurosis, Ds measures more exaggeration of neurotic symptoms, whereas
F and Fb assesses more exaggeration of psychotic or severe symptoms. Scores greater
than T65 suggest some exaggeration, and scores greater than T98 are most likely to be
exaggerated.
F(p)- Infrequency-Psychopathology Scale (Aribisi and Ben-Porath,1995a, 1995b);
(27 items); the F scale was developed by normals who responded to items less than 10%
of the time. The F(p) scale was constructed of items endorsed by 20% or less by two
separate groups of psychiatric patients and by the MMPI-2 sample. The F(p) is better than
F or Fb in detecting feigning serious psychopathology. Scores between T71 and T113
may be exaggerated, unless the psychopathology is obviously severe; scores greater than
T113 suggest exaggeration.
TRIN - True Response Inconsistency scale (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham &Tellegen
1989). (MMPI-2) 23 pairs of items that are semantically inconsistent. High scores, 13 or
more, have responded to the MMPI in a "yea-saying" test set, responding mostly "True".
Low scores of 5 or less responded with a "nay-saying" test set, responding mainly
"False."
S Superlative Self-Presentation Scale (Butcher and Han, 1995) (50 items); based on
comparing the responses of male airline pilot applicants with the male MMPI-2
normative sample. Five subscales are; Belief in Human Goodness, Serenity, Contentment
with Life, Patience and Denial of Irritability and Anger, and Denial of Moral Flaws.
Highly correlated with the K scale. As with K, if the person is indeed high functioning, a
high score accurately measures ego strength. If however, the person's history does not
support claims of superior adjustment, and T>65, consider a faking to look good bias.
Mp- Positive Malingering Scale (Cofer et al. ,1949) (26 items). Developed by having
college students take the MMPI under conditions, of fake good, fake bad and normal. It
may measure a conscious attempt to give a favorable impression. Mp is highly correlated
with Sd, L and S. Mp should only be used along with L and K. If T greater than 60, and L
and/or K are also high, there is likely to be a conscious attempt to fake to look good.
Sd-Social Desirability Scale (Wiggins, 1959) (33 items); based on asking college
students to respond to the MMPI as a person who has the general values of the American
culture. Sd highly correlates with Mp and L, and only slightly with K. High scores, >T65,
are associated with claims of assertiveness, confidence, and virtuousness.
5
Definitions of MMPI/MMPI-2:
Basic Scales and Sub-scales
Consider "High" to be T70 or more on the MMPI, and T65 or more on the MMPI-2. The
higher a scale is, the more the more pathological descripters apply. Use the more benign
descripters with moderately high scores. Consider "low" to be about T45 and below on
the MMPI, and T40 and below on the MMPI-2.
The correlations I refer to are based on my study of 200 patients, forensic and selection
clients.
1 (Hs) Hypochondriasis - Hathaway & McKinley (1940). (MMPI 33
items, MMPI-2 32 items).
High: Preoccupation about one's health, a tendency to exaggerate physical symptoms,
demanding, whiny, immature, little psychological mindedness, poor prognosis for any
kind of treatment. As with any personality scale, it does not rule out organic disease. But
nor does disease rule out the need to exaggerate and complain- which scale 1 measures
very well.
Low: Healthy, insightful, optimistic.
Correlates mainly with Hysteria (3) .79.
2 (D) Depression - Hathaway & McKinley (1942). (MMPI 60 items,
MMPI-2 57 items)
High: Clinical depression, pessimism, guilt feelings.
Low: Absence of depression, cheerful, competitive.
This is still the best scale of clinical depression.
Correlates .93 with Depression- Obvious, .90 with D1 Subjective Depression, .83 D4
Mental Dullness, and .77 with D5 Brooding.
DO Depression-Obvious - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 40 items, MMPI-2 39 items).
High: Overly sensitive, somatic complaints, tension, worry poor concentration,
withdrawn, sad.
Low: Healthy and outgoing.
Correlates .96 with D1 Subjective Depression, and .93 with Depression. DO is D without
DS. That is, this scale is depression without any denial of symptoms. DO is the most
pathological part of scale 2.
DS Depression-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 20 items, MMPI-2 18 items)
High: Denial of problems, the denial component of depression.
Low: Hostile, poor impulse control, somatic complaints.
Correlates -.60 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility, .50 with L, .49 with Repression, and .48
with K. This is not a measure of subtle depression, but rather a component of depression,
i.e. denial. If depression or psychopathology is ruled out, a high score is an indication of
healthy functioning.
D1 Subjective Depression - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 32 items, MMPI-2 32
items)
High: Feeling depressed, sad and pessimistic.
Low: Feeling cheerful and optimistic.
It's the same as Depression-Obvious (.96).
D2 Psychomotor Retardation - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 15 items, MMPI-2
14 items).
High: Withdrawn, lethargic and nonparticipative.
Low: Admits to aggressive feelings, active and involved.
Correlates .60 with Wiggins Social Maladjustment, and .56 with scale 0, Social
Introversion.
D3 Physical Malfunctioning - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 11 items, MMPI-2 11
items)
High: Preoccupation and complaints about poor health.
Low: Indicates good physical health.
Correlates .62 with both Wiggins Poor Health and Organic Symptoms, and .61 with scale
1- Hypochondriasis. The hypochondriacal-somatizing component of depression.
D4 Mental Dullness - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 15 items, MMPI-2 15 items).
6
High: Tired, tense, poor concentration and memory, sad and low self-esteem.
Low: Feels relaxed, interested in life and self-confident.
This scale can be the only elevated scale of depression in a "masked" depression. These
people complain of trouble concentrating on school work or on the job. Correlates .92
with Depression-Obvious, .86 with Sc4 Lack of Ego Mastery- Conative, and .81 with Sc3
Lack of Ego Mastery- Cognitive.
D5 Brooding - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 10 items, MMPI-2 10 items).
High: Ruminative, lethargic, overly sensitive and fears losing control of thought
processes.
Low: Feels happy and that life is worthwhile, energetic and self-confident.
Correlates .91 with Subjective Depression, .90 with Wiggins Depression, and .86 Pd5
Self-Aleination.
3 (Hy) Hysteria - Hathaway & McKinley (1944). (MMPI 60 items,
MMPI-2 60 items).
High: Tendency to convert conflicts concerning dependency, sexuality or aggression, and
express them as physical symptoms. Psychologically immature, self-centered,
narcissistic, and insightless. Superficially friendly and naive but manipulative.
Low: Overly constrictive, conventional and distrusting.
An excellant scale that measures somatization, conversion reactions, denial, naivete and
manipulativeness.
Correlates .79 with Hypochondriasis, .60 with Hysteria-Obvious, .56 with Hy4 . 53 with
Somatic Complaints, .51 with Hysteria-Subtle, and .49 with Paranoia-Subtle.
HyO Hysteria-Obvious - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 32 items, MMPI-2 32 items)
High: Physical complaints, poor concentration, lethargy, tension, sexual anxiety and
depression.
Low: Healthy, little anxiety and depression, happy home life and few if any sexual fears.
Correlates .89 with Hy3 Lassitude-Malaise, .86 with Depression-Obvious, and .86 with
Wiggins Organic Symptoms. The most pathological parts of scale 3.
HyS Hysteria-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 28 items, MMPI-2 28 items)
High: Naively trusting, socially outgoing, denies aggressive impulses, the repression
component to the hysteria complex.
Low: Hostile and distrusting.
Correlates .87 with Hy2 Need for Affection, and .81 with K. As with Depression-Subtle,
Hysteria-Subtle does not measure Hysteria, but defensiveness. Also as with D-S, a high Hy-S
in the absence of psychopathology is a sign of healthy functioning, not defensiveness.
Hy1 Denial of Social Anxiety - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 6 items, MMPI-2 6
items).
High: Extroverted, talkative and not easily influenced by customs or conventions.
Low: Introverted and highly influenced by social standards.
Correlates .90 with Pd3 Social Imperturbability, -.79 with scale 0 Social Introversion, .74
with Hysteria-Subtle, and .64 with Ma3 Imperturbability. Hy1, Pd3 and Ma3 all are
similiar components of psychopathology. They represent the component of narcissistic
insensitivity in Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate and Hypomania. Outside the context of
psychopathology, they simply mean extroversion.
Hy2 Need for Affection - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 12 items, MMPI-2 12
items)
High: Naively optimistic and trusting, denies hostile feelings, strong need for attention
and affection from others, and avoids confrontations.
Low: Critical and suspicious of others, and admits to hostile and vengeful feelings.
Correlates .87 with Hysteria-Subtle, -.74 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts, -.73 with
Prejudice, and .72 with Pa3 Naivete. Mental health professionals often have as their
highest MMPI scales moderate elevations in Hysteria and Paranoia. Their 36/63 code is
often the cause of much speculation. However, the elevations are usually due to Hy2 and
Pa3, which assess trust and optimissism in normals. We would expect high trust and
optimissism in mental health professionals. Within the context of psychopathology, it's
the idealizing side of splitting. Hysterics and Paranoids can highly idealize a person.
Their intimacies can be very intense and passionate. However, at the slightest disruption
of the idealized self-object merger fantasy (the discovery that the other person is not
controllable and has independent thoughts and feelings), the idealization flips over to
devaluation. These scales are based on a person's beliefs and not object constancy or
empathy.
Hy3 Lassitude-Malaise - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 15 items, MMPI-2 15
items).
High: Vague somatic complaints poor concentration, poor appetite, feels depressed and an
unhappy home environment.
Low: Good health, energetic and satisfied.
7
Correlates .89 with Hysteria-Obvious, and .83 with Depression. Hy3 is the depressive
underbelly of Hysteria. The social extroversion of Hy1 is the superficial social flight from
Hy-3 depression. The Hysteric would agree with Smokey Robinson, "I've got to dance to
keep from crying."
Hy4 Somatic Complaints - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 17 items, MMPI-2 17
items).
High: Repression and conversion of affect, nausea, fainting spells, pain, and denies
hostility.
Low: Denies above physical complaints, and admits to hostile feelings.
Correlates .85 with Wiggins Organic Symptoms, .78 with Hysteria-Obvious, and .71 with
Hypochondriasis. This is the somatiform component of Hysteria. The high correlation
with Organic Symptoms is associated with pseudoneurological symptoms.
Hy5 Inhibition of Aggression - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 7 items, MMPI-2 7
items).
High: Decisive, sensitive, and denies aggressive impulses.
Low: Admits to hostile impulses, indecisive and insensitive.
Correlates .56 with Hysteria-Subtle, .50 with K, and -.46 with Wiggins Authority
Conflicts. Hysterics say that they do not get angry. They just drive you crazy with their
passive-aggressiveness.
4(Pd) Psychopathic Deviate - Hathaway & McKinley (1944). (MMPI 50
items, MMPI-2 50 items).
High: Poor impulse control, disidentification with societal standards, authority conflicts,
marital and family conflicts, inconsiderate, narcissistic, poor judgment, extroverted, self-
confident, hostile and externalizes blame.
Low: Overly conventional and conforming, passive, trusting and non-competitive.
Correlates .72 with Pd-O, .63 with Pd5 Self Alienation, .63 with Schizophrenia, and .60
with D1 Subjective Depression. Pd is a great characterological scale of narcissism,
externalization of blame, exploitiveness, and hostility. The subscales for Pd are very
important in understanding elevations in Pd. Elevations in Pd can be due to a hostile,
exploitive and truly psychopathic mentality, or an extroverted normal going through a
divorce, or a normal teenager. If Pd-O is greater than Pd, then the more pathological
interpretaions should be used. If Pd-S is higher than Pd, then the more benign
interpretations should be used. It is helpful to also look at the content scales of anger,
authority problems, family problems etc. to help understand elevations in Pd.
PdO Psychopathic Deviate-Obvious - Weiner (1948).(MMPI 28 items, MMPI-2 28
items)
High: Feels misunderstood, poor concentration, feels rejected by family, acting out, may
have used alcohol excessively, depression, and sexual conflicts.
Low: Healthy relationships, denies alcohol abuse and does not express regret about past
misdeeds.
Correlates .89 with Pd5 Self Alienation, .83 with Wiggins Depression, and .82 with
Dependency. Pd-O is more pathological than Pd, while Pd-S, Pd1 and Pd2 are less
pathological than Pd.
PdS Psychopathic Deviate-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 22 items, MMPI-2 22
items)
High: Social imperturbability, family conflicts, difficulties with intimate relationships and
impulsive.
Low: Conforming, compliant and shy.
Correlates .56 with Pd, .38 with Hy-S, and .37 with Hy1 Denial of Social Anxiety. A
rather independent subtle scale. These people function very well, but tend to have marital
problems due to the abuse or neglect they experienced within their family of orgin.
Pd1 Familial Discord - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 11 items, MMPI-2 9 items).
High: Home is unpleasant, lacking in love and understanding.
Low: Family situation is loving and understanding without being overcontrolling or
domineering.
Correlates .86 with Wiggins Family Problems, and .69 with Sc1 Social Alienation. An
important scale, since many people have elevations in Pd due to situational stress because
of problems with parents or spouses (the scale does not differentiate between problems
from the family of origin or the family of procreation). The Wiggins Family Problems
scale is much better than Pd1, and so may the new Family Problems content scale be
better at measuring family distress. Those with high scores were often the scapegoats
from their families of origin, and they may have an unconscious need to repeat feeling or
being victimized in other intimate relationships.
Pd2 Authority Conflict - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 11 items, MMPI-2 8
items).
High: Resentful of standards, opinionated and rebellious.
Low: Conforming and accepting of authority and not overly opinionated.
Correlates -.44 with Repression, and only .40 with Pd. This is not really an authority
8
conflict scale. Wiggins Authority Conflicts scale is a much better scale. The two are not
even correlated. The scale should be called "Resentment".
Pd3 Social Imperturbability - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 12 items, MMPI-2 6
items).
High: Denial of social anxiety, exhibitionistic, loquacious and opinionated.
Low: Social anxiety, shy and conforming.
Correlates .90 with Hy1 Denial of Social Anxiety, -.86 with Wiggins Social
Maladjustment, -.83 with Si Social Introversion, and .65 with Ma3 Social
Imperturbability. This is the social insensitivity in Pd. These people can be described as
friendly, but you wouldn't share your feelings with them. Hy1, Pd3 and Ma3 assess
insensitivity within the context of psychopathology, and simply extroversion in normals.
Pd4 (Pd4a) Social Alienation - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 18 items, MMPI-2
13 items).
High: Alienated, estranged, feels misunderstood, unhappy and unloved, externalizes
blame, overly sensitive, self-centered and inconsiderate.
Low: Has a sense of belonging, sees significant others as loving and understanding, and
has satisfying social relationships.
Correlates .81 with Pd5, .79 with Pd-O, .79 with D5 Brooding, .78 with Welsh Anxiety,
and .77 with Wiggins Depression. Pd4 is the second most pathological Harris and
Lingoes subscale for Pd, after Pd5.
Pd5 (Pd4b) Self-Alienation - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 18, MMPI-2 12).
High: Depressed, difficulty in concentrating, guilt feelings and remorse over past deeds,
and may use alcohol excessively.
Low: Able to settle down to a comfortable happy life.
Correlates .89 with Pd-O, .87 with Wiggins Depression, .87 with D5 Brooding, .86 with
Welsh Anxiety, and .84 with D1 Subjective Depression. This is the most pathological
Harris and Lingoes subscale of Pd. "Self-Alienation" is a confusing label. It should be
called, "Brooding and apathy".
5 Mf Masculinity-Femininity - Hathaway and McKinley (1956). (MMPI 60
items, MMPI-2 56 items).
High:(For Males) Passive, aesthetic and artistic interests, intelligent, sensitive to others,
tolerant and has good controls. If very high - possible sex role identity problems.
(For Females) Rejects the traditional female role, masculine interests in work and
hobbies, and may be aggressive and dominating.
Low: (For Males) Limited intellectual ability, narrow range of interests, practical,
aggressive, and has traditional male interests.
(For Females) Passive, submissive, constricted and sensitive. Not correlated to any scales
of psychopathology. Masculinity-Femininity reliably comes up as an independent factor
of MMPI items. Mf is only slightly correlated to the new Gender Role scales on the
MMPI-2. This is the weakest basic MMPI/MMPI-2 scale. Highly educated sensitive
males usually score high. The new MMPI-2 norms reflect the changes in traditional sex
roles since 1940. The female norm did not change, but the male norm is a whole standard
deviation higher in the MMPI-2 as compared to the MMPI mean. The MMPI-2 sample is
also very highly educated. What ever the reason, on the MMPI-2, Ph.D. psychologists
will look less like latent homosexuals. The best part of this scale is the subscale Mf1
Narcissism-Hypersensitivity which has been omitted on the MMPI-2.
Mf1 Narcissism-Hypersensitivity - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 18 items).
High:Extremely sensitive, easily hurt, self-centered, narcissistic, lacks self-confidence,
concerned over sexual matters, and anger towards family.
Low: Self-confident, not overly sensitive, denies hostile feeling towards family, and sees
others as sensitive and reasonable.
Correlates .77 with Dependency, .75 with Welsh Anxiety, .73 with Wiggins Poor Morale, .
71 with Wiggins Depression, and .70 with Pd4 Social Alienation. One of my favorite
scales. It can be the only scale elevated in a subtle profile. It assesses the oversensitivity
aspect of narcissism.
Mf2 Stereotypic Feminine Interests - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 14 items).
High: Traditional feminine interests and activities (i.e., nursing, poetry, growing plants,
cooking, etc.).
Low: Dislike of traditional feminine interests.
Correlates .86 with Wiggins Feminine Interests. I have no interest in interest scales unless
they are part of a well developed interest inventory.
Mf3 Denial of Stereotypic Masculine Interests - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 8 items).
High: Dislike of stereotypic masculine occupations, interests and hobbies (e.g., military,
hunting, reading mechanics magazines, etc.)
Low: Traditional masculine interests and occupations. Another "so what" scale.
9
Mf4 Heterosexual Discomfort-Passivity - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 4 items).
High: Discomfort talking about sex, passive, and attracted to members of one's own sex.
Low: Comfortable talking about sex, assertive, and denies being attracted to members of one's own sex.
No meaningful correlations with other scales. This is the only Mf subscale that gets to
sexual pathology. Unfortunately, it is too much a mixed bag of issues, from sexual
uptightness to homosexuality, to be useful.
Mf5 Introspective-Critical - Serkownek (1975).(MMPI 7 items).
High: Introverted, shy, lacks self-confidence, and rejects religious fundamentalism.
Low: Extroverted, self-confident, and accepts some fundamentalist religious beliefs.
Correlates -.64 Wiggins Religious Fundamentalism. This correlation is based on the
rejection of the fundamemtalism items. I wonder about the validity of this scale. Typical
of factor analysis, the first factor Mf1 is the best scale, and the last few scales are a
jumble of loosely related items that were left over. The runts of the factor analysis.
Mf6 Socially Retiring - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 9 items).
High: Introverted, unassertive, and avoids excitement or risk.
Low: Extroverted, exhibitionistic, argumentative, and seeks out excitement or risk.
Correlates .46 with Si3 (Serkownek) Staid-personal rigidity. Not a very good scale of
social introversion.
Martin and Finn (Martin, 1993) factor analyzed the MMPI-2 Mf
scale, resulting in 7 factors.
Mf1 Denial of Stereotypic Masculine Interests (11 items); measures a lack of interest
in stereotypic masculine activities. Not very clinically useful.
Mf2 Hypersensitivity-Anxiety (13 items); measures worry and sensitivity, similar to
Serkownek's Mf1. This scale is the only subscale of Mf that is clinically useful. It is the
pathology component of Mf.
Mf3 Stereotypical Feminine Interests (6 items); measures stereotypic feminine
activities. Not very clinically useful.
Mf4 Low Cynicism (6 items); measures a lack of suspiciousness about the motives of
others.
Mf5 Aesthetic Interests (5 items); measures interest in the arts and literature. High
scorers may do well with insight therapy. Mf6 Feminine Gender Identity (5 items);
measures the wish to be and act female. May be useful in assessing gender identity issues.
Mf7 Restraint from Loud and Aggressive Interests and Behaviors (6 items); not fun
at parties, but good at museums, especially if Mf5 is also elevated.
6 (Pa) Paranoia - Hathaway &McKinley (1956). (MMPI 40 items,
MMPI-2 40 items).
Pa1 Persecutory Ideas - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 17 items, MMPI-2 17
High: Suspicious, hostile, overly sensitive, ideas of reference, delusions of persecution or
grandiosity, vengeful, and utilizes projection.
Low: Insensitive, defensive, and shy.
Correlates .77 with Pa-O, .73 with Pa2 Poignancy, .67 with Psychasthenia, .65
with Pa1 Persecutory Ideas, .62 with Hy-O, .62 with Wiggins Psychoticism, and .
57 with Pa-S. A good scale of persecutory paranoia. It does not assess the other
types of non-bizarre delusions, i.e. Erotomanic (delusional fanatical love),
Grandiose, Jealous and Somatic. The only false positives are when, in reality, they
have someone out to get them. This is the only scale I know where high scores or
low scores could mean the same thing, paranoia.
PaO Paranoia-Obvious - Weiner (1948).(MMPI 23 items, MMPI-2 23 items).
High: Persecutory ideas, feeling misunderstood and abused, feeling depressed,
projection of blame and suspicious.
Low: Denies persecutory ideation.
Correlates .87 with Pa1 Persecutory Ideas, .85 with Wiggins Psychoticism, .77
with Pa, .76 with Wiggins Depression, and .73 with Pa2 Poignancy. Pa-O and Pa1
are basically the same, both measuring persecutory ideas. Both are more
pathological than Pa.
PaS Paranoia-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 22 items, MMPI-2 17 items).
High: Naively trusting, may feel victimized, the idealizing side of the splitting
(PaO = Bad Object and PaS = Good Object).
Low: Resentful, distrusting and punitive.
Correlates .84 with Pa3 Naivete, -.62 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts, .57 with
Pa, .52 with Hy2 Need for Affection, and .47 with Hy-S. Pa-S and Pa3 in normals
assess trustfulness, the opposite of paranoia. In individuals with paranoid
tendencies, Pa-S and Pa3 assess the idealizing side of splitting. The object
relations of paranoids are based on their rigid beliefs. People are either all good or
10
all bad to them. Their object relations are not based on object constancy and
empathy, but the projection of good and bad internal objects. Pa-O and Pa1 are on
the negative side of the split, and Pa-S and Pa3 are on the positive side of the split.
When people with paranoid tendencies trust, it is usually a set up to feel betrayed.
items).
High:Externalizes blame,utilizes projection,feels misunderstood and suspicious.
Low: Feels understood, trusting, and denies persecutory ideas.
Correlates .87 with Pa-O, .80 with Wiggins Psychoticism, .69 Prejudice, .69 with
Pd4 Social Alienation, and .68 with Wiggins Depression. Pa1 and Pa-O are the
most pathological aspects of Pa. These scales assess delusions of persecution,
unless someone is really out to get them.
Pa2 Poignancy - Harris &Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 9 items, MMPI-2 9 items).
High: Highstrung, overly sensitive, overly subjective, feels misunderstood, seeks
out excitement and acts out.
Low: Feels understood and not likely to act out.
Correlates .73 with Pa-O, .71 with Wiggins Psychoticism, .68 with Dependency,
and .68 with Welsh Anxiety. A good scale of "thin-skinness", an aspect of
paranoids. Pa2 is a good subtle scale of paranoia.
Pa3 Naivete - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 9 items, MMPI-2 9 items).
High: Naive about others, and sees self and others as trustworthy and honest with
high moral standards, and denies hostility.
Low: Suspicious of others, admits to feeling of hostility and resentment.
Correlates .84 with Pa-S,-.81 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility,.72 with Hy2 Need
for Affection, -.69 with Prejudice, and .65 with Hy-S. See comments on Pa-S. Pa3
is a measure of trustfulness with normals. It is a measure of the idealizing side of
splitting in paranoia.
7 (Pt) Psychasthenia - Hathaway &McKinley (1942). (MMPI 48
items, MMPI-2 48 items).
High: Obsessive-compulsive anxiety, tendency towards phobias, irrational fears,
highstrung, difficulty concentrating, lack of self-confidence, rigidly moralistic,
perfectionistic and dependent.
Low: Well adjusted, free from anxiety, self-confident, and a wide range of
interests.
Correlates .81 with Schizophrenia,.80 with Depression-Obvious,.77 with D1, and .
75 with Hy-O. Scale 7 measures anxiety which is a common element to several
scales. That's why there is so much overlapp with Schizophrenia (8), Depression
(2) and Hysteria (3). When scale 7 is at least 10 T scores over scale 8, there is
more compensation and a better prognosis, than the other way around. Since scale
7 is so homogenous and obvious, it has no subscales, and needs all the raw scores
of K to correct for defensiveness.
8 (Sc) Schizophrenia - Hathaway &McKinley (1956). (MMPI 78
items, MMPI-2 78 items).
High: breakdown of reality testing, feelings of unreality, insecurities, schizoidal
trends, alienation, shy, generalized anxiety, over-investment in fantasy, sexual
preoccupation, non-conforming, immature and disorganized thinking.
Low: Friendly, reasonable, conventional, practical, and unimaginative.
Correlates .81 with Pt, .73 with Hy-O, .72 with Sc1 Social Alienation, .72 with
Wiggins Psychoticism, .70 with Sc5 Defective Inhibition, and .69 Depression-
Obvious. One of the best scales anywhere of serious psychopathology. When scale
8 is one of the highest elevated scales on the profile, consider a borderline or
psychotic personality structure. Sc is made up of all obvious items, and as with Pt,
requires all the raw scores of K to correct for defensiveness.
Sc1 (Sc1a) Social Alienation - Harris &Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 21 items,
MMPI-2 21 items).
High: Feels misunderstood and alienated, feels others have it in for them or wish
them harm, describes family as lacking in love and support, admits never having
been in love, and avoids social relationships.
Low: Feels understood and loved, denies hostility towards family and enjoys
rewarding social relationships.
Correlates .80 with Wiggins Family Problems, .80 with Wiggins Psychoticism,.78
with Welsh Anxiety, and .77 with Dependency. This scale picks up the sequelae of
having been a scapegoat and abused within the family of origin.
Sc2 (Sc1b) Emotional Alienation - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 11 items,
11
MMPI-2 11 items).
High: Depression, sado-masochistic tendencies and apathy.
Low: Feels optimistic, andenjoys healthy relationships with others.
Correlates .83 with Sc4 Lack of Ego Mastery- Conative, .82 with Wiggins
Depression, .78 with Pd5 Self-Alienation, .78 with D5 Brooding, and .78 with D1
Subjective Depression. Sc2, Sc3, and Sc4 overlapa great deal. They all relate to
depression and apathy. Sc2 is more apathy and brooding. Sc3 is more mental
dullness and problems with thinking. Sc4 is a combination of Sc2 and Sc3.
Sc3 (Sc2a) Lack of Ego Mastery, Cognitive - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI
10 items, MMPI-2 10 items).
High: Feelings of unreality, difficulty in concentration, and fear of losing control
of thoughts.
Low: Denies difficulty in concentration, feelings of unreality or unusual thought
processes. Correaltes .83 with Sc4, .81 with D4 Mental Dullness, and .78 with
Wiggins Psychoticism. Sc3 should be called "Thought Disorder".
Sc4 (Sc2b) Lack of Ego Mastery, Conative - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI
14 items, MMPI-2 14 items).
High: Depression, difficulty coping, inertia, regression into fantasy, pessimistic,
and may have suicidal ideation.
Low: Feels life is worthwhile and has energy to cope.
Correlates .86 with D4 Mental Dullness, .83 with Sc2 Emotional Alienation, .83
with Sc3 Lack of Ego Mastery, Cognitive, .82 with D1 Subjective Depression, and
.81 with Wiggins Depression. Sc4 combines Sc2 and Sc3,that is problems with
depression and thought.
Sc5 (Sc2c) Lack of Ego Mastery, Defective Inhibition - Harris &Lingoes (1955).
(MMPI 11 items, MMPI-2 11 items).
High: Feels not in control of emotions or impulses, irritable, hyperactive,and
dissociation of affect.
Low: Denies feeling out of control of impulses or emotions.
Correaltes .80 with Hypomania-Obvious, .76 with Dependency, .75 with Welsh
Anxiety, and .74 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility. The best subscale of Sc.
Important in assessing impulse control.
Sc6 (Sc3) Bizarre Sensory Experiences - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 20
items, MMPI-2 20 items).
High: May admit to hallucinations, ideas of external influence, strange tactile
sensations, auditory or kinesthetic distortions.
Low: Denies experiencing change in bodily image or sensations or feelings of
depersonalization.
Correaltes .78 with Wiggins Organic Symptoms, .65 with Hypomania-Obvious,
and .65 with Wiggins Psychoticism. Assess somatic delusions rather than
somatization found with neurotics. Should be called, "Somatic Delusions".
Caldwell (1988) calls this scale, "Sensorimotor Dissociation".
9 Ma Hypomania - Hathaway &McKinley (1944). (MMPI 46
items, MMPI-2 46 items).
High: Hyperactive, impulsive, difficulty in delaying gratification, narcissistic,
irritable and extroverted.
Low: Low energy and activity level, fatigue, depression and withdrawn.
Correlates .83 with Hypomania-Subtle, .73 with Ma2 Psychomotor
Acceleration,.71 with Hypomania-Obvious, .66 with Ma4 Ego Inflation, .61 with
Wiggins Hypomania, and .53 Ma1 Amorality.
Note that scale 9 (Ma) is the only scale where the Subtle items correlate more with
the scale than the Obvious items. Hypomania is a fairly subtle scale. It can be the
only elevated scale in a defensively submerged profile. It will detect narcissistic,
paranoid (grandiose type), psychopathic, hystrionic personality traits, and a
hypomanic affective state. The subscales are very helpful. Ma-O is very
pathological, while Ma-S and Ma3 are not necessarily pathological. Scale 9 is
known to activate the other scales, leading to an acting out of the disturbed
ideation.
Ma-O Hypomania-Obvious- Weiner (1948).(MMPI 23 items, MMPI-2 23
items).
High: Poor impulse control, acting out, grandiose, thrill- seeking and exploitive.
Low: Denies having poor impulse control, or acting out, is not thrill-seeking,
humble and practical.
Correlates .80 with Sc5 Defective Inhibition, .79 with Ma2 Psychomotor
Acceleration, .71 with Ma, .69 with Wiggins Psychoticism, .69 with Ma4 Ego
Inflation, .67 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility, and .66 with Wiggins Hypomania.
The correlations reflect the high degree of psychopathology in this scale, far more
than Ma. These are the sorts of people who have a lot of energy, but shouldn't.
12
Ma-S Hypomania-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 23 items, MMPI-2 23
items).
High: Social imperturbability, extroverted, insensitive and thrill-seeking.
Low: Shy, insecure and indecisive.
Correlates .83 with Ma, .53 with Ma3 Imperturbability, .51 with Pd3 Social
Imperturbability, .47 with Ma2 Psychomotor Acceleration, .46 with Ma4 Ego
Inflation, and -.45 with Si. Ma-S, as with Hy1, Pd3, and Ma3, simply means
extrovertion in normals, but in the context of psychopathology, it means
insensitivity.
Ma1 Amorality - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 6 items, MMPI-2 6 items).
High: Justifies manipulativeness by projecting own selfish opportunistic and
exploitive tendencies onto others.
Low: Denies that other people are selfish, opportunistic, and manipulative.
Correaltes .53 with Ma, and .49 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts. A unique scale.
It's not as pathological as "Amorality" sounds. It would be better to call it,
"Manipulativeness", or what Alex Caldwell (1988) likes to call it, "Opportunism".
Ma2 Psychomotor Acceleration - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 11 items,
MMPI-2 11 items).
High: Accelerated speech, thoughts, motor activity, tense, and seeks out risks or
danger to overcome boredom.
Low: Denies tension, avoids risk or danger, complacent and calm.
Correaltes .79 with Wiggins Hypomania, .79 with Hypomania-Obvious, .73 with
Ma, .67 with Sc5 Defective Inhibiton, -.59 Social Responsibility, and .56 with
Wiggins Manifest Hostility. A rather pathological scale of acting out tendencies.
Ma3 Imperturbability - Harris &Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 8 items, MMPI-2 8
items).
High: Little concern about the opinions and values of others, denies social anxiety
and extroverted.
Low: Introverted, easily influenced by the opinions of others, and denies
impatience with others.
Correlates -.69 with Wiggins Social Maladjustment, .65 with Pd3 Social
Imperturbability, -.64 with Si, .64 with Hy1 Denial of Social Anxiety, and .54 with
 Ego strength. See comments on Ma-S,
HY1 and Pd3. Ma3 in normals means trustfulness and extroversion. In the context
of psychopathology it is associated with defensiveness and insensitivity.
Ma4 Ego Inflation - Harris &Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 9 items, MMPI-2 9
items).
High: Grandiose, over-estimates own worth, resentful and impatient with others.
Low: Realistic notion of self-worth, or self-critical and denies resentment towards
others who make demands on them.
Correlates .69 with Ma-O, .66 with Ma, and .56 with Wiggins Hypomania. A good
scale for picking up ego-syntonic grandiosity in paranoids or narcissistic
personalities.
O Si Social Introversion - Drake (1946). (MMPI 70 items, MMPI-2 69 items).
High: Timid, shy, uncomfortable with members of the opposite sex, hard to get to
know, overly-sensitive, over-controlled, submis sive, conventional, cautious, rigid
and moody.
Low: Socially extroverted, talkative, energetic, interest in status and recognition,
competitive, narcissistic, superficial, and manipulative.
Correaltes .94 with Si1 Inferiority-Personal Discomfort, .89 with Wiggins Social
Maladjustment, -.83 with Pd3 Social Impertubability, .81 with Si2 Discomfort
with Others, and .75 with Wiggins Poor Morale. A very reliable personality trait
that many researchers believe is at least partly a matter of genes. The test retest
correlation after 30 years is .74 (Gynther, 1979). The more Si is greater than Sc the
better; the more likely the person is avoidant rather than schiziod. Low scores can
sometimes be the only sign of narcissism on the profile. The subscales aren't very
helpful, since Si is so homogeneous. They keep saying, "shy". Serkownek's
subscales are useful in helping to determine the degree of pathology in an elevated
Si. Si1, Si4, S15 and Si6 are more pathological than Si2 and Si3. The former
assess more schizoid, depressed and paranoid traits, and the latter assess more
neurotic traits. The three new MMPI-2 subscales for Si seem even less clearly
differentiated than Serkownek's subscales. There isn't data on the new Si subscales
in the MMPI-2 Manual (1989). They should be considered as experimental scales.
Si1 Inferiority-Personal Discomfort - Serkownek (1975).(MMPI 27 items).
13
High: Shy, lacks social skills, overly sensitive to criticism, sad, indecisive, trouble
concentrating, does not make friends easily and self-conscious.
Low: Socially extroverted, not overly sensitive, happy, and decisive.
Correlates .94 with Social Introversion, and .90 with Wiggins
Social Maladjustment. As a first factor, it picks up most the variance of Si,
meaning it is almost the same thing. Si has high internal consistency (about an
alpha of .83; MMPI-2 Manual,1989, p.91), so the subscales are not very useful.
Si1 is a little more pathological than Si. Si1 assesses a schiziod weakness.
Si2 Discomfort with others - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 14 items).
High: Uncomfortable around others, dislikes large social gatherings, and lacks
self-confidence.
Low: Enjoys being around people, seeks out excitement and self-confident.
Correlates .81 with Si, .79 with Si1, .79 with Wiggins Social Maladjustment, and
-.73 with Pd3 Social Imperturbability. Where Si1 is "inferiority" issues, Si2 is
more "discomfort," that is, neurotic shyness.
Si3 Staid-personal rigidity - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 16 items).
High: Dislikes social groups, avoids excitement or competitive situations or
leadership role.
Low: Enjoys positions of leadership, seeks out excitement and social situations.
Correlates -.63 with Ma, -.57 with Ma-S, -.55 with Ma2 Psychomotor
Acceleration, and .41 with Si. A unique subscale measuring neurotic uptightness.
These people marry maniacs to help them feel alive.
Si4 Hypersensitivity - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 10 items).
High: Overly sensitive to others, easily hurt, broods, trouble concentrating, low
tolerance for frustration, and enjoys being the center of attention.
Low: Shy, not overly sensitive to others, denies having problems in concentration,
and denies having low tolerance for frustration.
Correlates .74 with D5 Brooding,.70 with Pd5 Self Alienation,.70 Welsh Anxiety,
and .67 with Wiggins Depression. Si4 picks up the depression in Social
Introversion. Many experts are at a loss in trying to understand the need to be the
center of attention, part of this scale. These items have to do with liking dramatics,
going to dances and wanting to be a singer. They are scored oppositely to the Si3 Self-alienation, Self and Other - Hostetler, et al. (1989).(MMPI-2 17
parent scale Si. They don't seem to fit. My guess is that there were a lot of out of items).
work actors in Serkownek's sample. I call this the "Marlon Brando" scale.
High: Self and other critical, suspicious of others, puts one ownself down, feels
Si5 Distrust - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 12 items). inadequate, lacks self-esteem and self-confidence, poor concentration, depressed,
obsessive thoughts, jealous. This is the most pathological of the three Hostetler
High: Perceives others as dishonest, insensitive, selfish, feels overwhelmed by subscales. It is similar to Serkonek's Si4 and Si5, i.e. depression and paranoia.
problems, indecisive and lacks confidence.
Low: Sees others as trustworthy, honest and sensitive, responsible and self-
confident.
Correlates .79 with Welsh Anxiety, .79 with Wiggins Poor Morale, .78 with
Prejudice, .76 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts, .76 with Wiggins Depression, and
. 74 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility. A good scale of subtle paranoia. This is the
paranoid side of Social Introversion.

Si6 Physical-somatic concerns - Serkownek (1975).(MMPI 10 items).

High: Somatic complaints, concerned about physical appearance, worries and shy.
Low: Denies various somatic complaints, not particularly worried about physical
appearance, not prone to worry, and extroverted.

Correlates .70 with Schizophrenia, .67 with Sc1 Social Alienation, .65 with Sc6
Bizarre Sensory Experiences, and .59 with Wiggins Psychoticism. The scale is far
more pathological than would be inferred by the name, "Physical-somatic
Definitions of MMPI/MMPI-2 Content Scales:
concerns". High scorers are distorting their body image in terms of their low self WIGGINS CONTENT SCALES
esteem, and experiencing the physiological symptoms of extreem anxiety.

The Hostetler MMPI-2 subscales for Si were published in the MMPI-2 Manual
(1989) without data. The following definitions are tentative and based on the
content of the items. Si1 is introversion or shyness. Si2 is not necessarily
introversion, but a dislike of groups of people. Si3 is the most pathological of
these three scales. Si3 is like Serkonek's Si4 and Si5, picking up paranoia and
depression. Only high scores are interpreted.
Si1 Shyness/Self-consciousness - Hostetler, et al. (1989) (MMPI-2 14 items).
High: Uncomfortable in social situations, shy, easily embarrassed, avoids making
small talk and uncomfortable in new situations.
Si2 Social Avoidance - Hostetler, et al. (1989). (MMPI-2 8 items).
High: Dislikes contact and activities with others, dislikes parties, gatherings,
dances, and socials.
The Wiggins Content Scales were omitted from the MMPI-2. These are excellant scales
with good validity and reliability. I recommend making your own templates for your
favorites, or mine: Psychoticism (when 6 and/or 8 are elevated), Manifest Hostility (when
4 and/or 9 are elevated), Authority Conflicts and Family Problems ( when 4 is elevated).
Nichols' (1987) monogragh on the Wiggins scales is excellent. It's based on over ten years
of research on the scales. Nichols recommends interpreting the Wiggins scales in terms of
their relative rather than their absolute elevation, especially when the mean elevation is
low. He also recommends looking at the lowest scales. Since content scales are so
sensitive to response bias, they can provide valuable information concerning what
information a person wishs to convey or not. (Nichols' thinking on Wiggins content
scales, should also apply to the MMPI-2 content scales. Caldwell (1988) recommends
interpreting the Wiggins scales as "High" at T65, and below T40 as "Low". He also
recommends looking at K to determine what should be considered "High" or "Low". With
a high K, scores at T60 may be significant.
HEA Poor Health - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 28 items).

14

High: Gastrointestinal difficulties and other somatic complaints.
Low: Not preoccupied with health and physical functioning.
Correlates .76 with Hs and .73 with Hy-O. As with, Hs, Hy, and Organic Symptoms, first
rule out organic disease through medical tests. HEA assesses somatization. HEA is more
related to scale 1 Hypochrondriasis, and Organic Symptoms is more related to the
pseudoneurological symptoms of scale 3 Hysteria.
DEP Depression - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 33 items).
High: Guilt, low self-esteem, pessimistic, brooding, withdrawn.
Low: Happy, stimulated with life's activities, optimistic, high self-esteem. .93 with Welsh
Anxiety, .90 with D5 Brooding, .90 with Dependency, and .89 with D1 Subjective
Depression. Nichols (1987) reports psychotic phenomena with very high scores (e.g.
T80). DEP in contrast to scale 2 Depression, is more associated with a characterological
angry brooding. Scale 2 is more associated with an affective disorder. DEP is more
entrenched and pathological than scale 2.
ORG Organic Symptoms - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 36 items).
High: Symptoms that may suggest organic involvement or somatization; poor judgment,
lapses of memory and concentration.
Low: Denies problems with sensorium or motorium, denies somatic symptoms, denies
difficulties in memory or concentration or poor judgment.
Correlates .86 with HyO, .85 with Hy4 Somatic Complaints, and .78 with Sc6 Bizarre
Sensory Experiences. ORG is related to the pseudoneurologic symptoms in scale 3
Hysteria. Nichols (personal communcation, 1989) feels ORG picks up the
hyperrationality of paranoids, depending on the various configural features (i.e., when
scale 8 and/or PSY are elevated).
FAM Family Problems - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 16 items).
High: Family rejecting and unloving, poor relationships with parents, possible marital
conflicts, and indications of family pathology.
Low: Describes home environment as loving, supportive, and understanding.
Correlates .86 with Pd1 Familial Discord, .80 with Sc1 Social Alienation, and .68 with
PdO. More pathological than Pd1. High scorers have been abused and scapegoated in
their family of origin. They tend however, to recreate conflicts in their current
15
relationships, by being the abuser or the victim.
AUT Authority Conflicts - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 20 items).
High: Little respect for authority, sees others as dishonest, hypercritical or manipulative;
uses view of others to justify own manipulative behavior, and seeks out excitement or
risk.
Low: Trusting attitude towards others, respectful of authority and societal standards.
Correlates -.81 with Pa3 Naivete, .80 with Prejudice and .76 with Si5 Distrust. A much better scale
than Pd2 Authority Conflicts. AUT is more pathological than Pd2. Pd2 is more resentment of
restrictions on one's freedom, whereas AUT is meaner and misanthropic.
FEM Feminine Interests - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 30 items).
High: Dislikes stereotypic masculine activities, likes stereotypic feminine activities and
occupations,(i.e. florist, nurse), cultural and esthetic interests.
Low: Preference for masculine activities and occupations. Dislike of cultural or esthetic
interests.
Correlates.86 with Mf2 Stereotypic Feminine Interests. This scale is not related to
psychopathology. However, working with a more disturbed population than I, Nichols
found that men with high scores often have an identity distrubance found in some
schizophrenic conditions.
REL Religious Fundamentalism - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 12 items).
High: Sees beliefs as the only true one; subscribes to literal interpretation of the Bible,
intolerant of others whose beliefs are different, and may be delusional.
Low: Tolerant of the religious beliefs and practices of others, and less likely to be
delusional if a psychiatric patient.
Correlates -.64 with Mf5 Introspective-Critical. The question is unique, where to look for
answers, with fundamentalist beliefs or within one's self. REL may assess religious
delusions. REL can be useful in treatment planning. Fundamentalist Christians generally
do better with a therapist who shares their beliefs.
HOS Manifest Hostility - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 27 items).
High: Retaliatory unmodulated anger, resentment for perceived injustices, poor impulse
control, critical and demanding.
Low: Denies hostile impulses, easy-going and passive.
Correlates -.74 with K, .74 with Si5 Distrust, .74 with Sc5 Defective Inhibition, and -.73
with Overcontrolled Hostility. A very useful scale of feelings of resentment and poor
impulse control.
MOR Poor Morale - Wiggins (1966b). (MMPI 23 items).
High: Overly sensitive, despairing, feels misunderstood, lack of self confidence, low self
esteem and withdrawn.
Low: Extroverted, assertive and gregarious.
Correlates .89 with Welsh Anxiety, .87 with Dependency, and .81 with Wiggins
Depression. "Poor Morale" is a common grouping that comes out of any factor or cluster
analysis. It's like 27/72. It's basic to neurosis, i.e. anxiety and depression. Nichols
(personal communication, 1989) believes that"...psychotherapeutically, MOR is far more
easier sort of thing to deal with than DEP. To put the matter in different terms, MOR is to
oral dependency as DEP is to oral sadism."
PHO Phobias - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 27 items).
Correlates .79 with Ma2 Psychomotor Acceleration, .66 with Ma-O, .61 with Ma, and .59
with Sc5 Lack of Ego Mastery- Defective Inhibition. An excellent unique scale. Clearly
different from Ma. HYP is more related to poor impulse control and bad temper, while
Ma is more related to feeling grandiose and extroverted.
SOC Social Maladjustment - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 27 items).
High: Introverted, lack of social skills, poor self-image, apathy, despair and reserved.
Low: Extroverted, assertive and sociable.
Correaltes .90 with Si1 Inferiority-Personal Discomfort, .89 with Si, and -.86 with Pd3
Social Imperturbability.

High: Anxieties, or specific fears of animals, things or situations.

Low: Not admitting to multiple fears or phobias.
Correlates .68 with Dependency,.67 with D-O, and .66 with Psychasthenia. Phobias are
very specific. One phobia warrants the diagnosis. However, one item would be a low
score on PHO. Phobias are better assessed through critical items. Nichols, however,
( personal communication,1989), states that as a scale PHO has, "...a useful dimension
here, fearfulness/harm-avoidance at one end and fearlessness/recklessness at the other."

PSY Psychoticism - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 48 items).

High: Poor reality testing, paranoid delusions, feelings of unreality, withdrawn into
fantasy, feeling misunderstood, and may admit to hallucinations.
Low: Not engaged in excessive fantasy or daydreaming, does not show psychotic
symptoms such as grandiosity, delusions of persecution, confused thinking or
hallucinations.
Correlates .85 with Pa-O, .80 with Pa1 Persecutory Ideas, .80 with Sc1 Social Alienation,
and .78 with Sc3 Lack of Ego Mastery- cognitive. This is a very important scale of severe
psychopathology. It is a combination of scales 6 and 8. High scorers are at least
borderline, if not psychotic. Because it is an obvious scale, it will miss defensive,
compensated psychotics and paranoids with non-bizarre delusions.
Definitions of MMPI-2 Content Scales:
Butcher, Graham, Williams &Ben-Porath (1990)
These scales were developed through basically a combined rational approach with some
empirical refining. All the scales have items which are obvious in content, and measure
what the respondent wishes to communicate. Therefore, these scales will be susceptible to
response bias to either exaggerate or to deny problems. Carefully interpret the validity
scales before interpreting these content scales. These new scales are experimental, and
should not be used for clinical decisions. The interpretations are tentative and based on
the item content. High scores start at T65, but look at the highest scales past T55, if K is
high. The correlations are based on 2,600 men and women (Butcher et al.,1990).
ANX Anxiety - (MMPI-2 23 items).

HYP Hypomania - Wiggins (1966b) (MMPI 25 items). High: Tension, worry, fears of losing one's mind, lack of confidence, somatic indications
of anxiety such as heart pounding, shortness of breath, and disturbed sleep.
High: High-strung, hyperactive, restless, immature, manipulative, emotionally labile, low
frustration tolerance, and irritable. Correlates .82 Welsh's Anxiety, .82 with Pt and .82 with Wiggins DEP.
Low: Low energy and drive, phlegmatic, reliable, and not irritable.
16
FRS Fears - (MMPI-2 23 items).
High: Specific fears such as high places, snakes, spiders, fires, storms, the dark, dirt,
blood, money, mice, leaving home, water, and being confined.
Correlates .92 with Wiggins' Phobia scale.
OBS Obsessiveness - (MMPI-2 16 items).
High: Rumination about decisions and problems, compulsions such as counting and
saving unimportant things, unable to control obsessional thoughts, and obsession over
forbidden aggressive feelings.
Correlates .82 with Welsh's Anxiety scale, and .78 with Pt.
DEP Depression - (MMPI-2 33 items).
High: Severe or major depression, brooding, crying easily, pessimism, suicidal ideation,
guilt, remorse, overly sensitive, apathy, feeling worthless, unresolved object loss, and
feeling empty.
Correlates .90 with Wiggins DEP, .84 Welsh's Anxiety, and .82 with Pt.
HEA Health Concerns - (MMPI-2 36 items).
High: Gastrointestinal symptoms, neurological symptoms, sensory problems,
dermatological problems, pain, and respiratory problems.
Correlates .90 with Hs, .83 with Wiggins ORG, and .80 with Wiggins HEA.
BIZ Bizarre Mentation - (MMPI-2 24 items).
High: Paranoid ideation- persecutory type, ideas of reference, delusional, derealitization,
thought intrusion, and hallucinations.
Correlates .83 with Wiggins Psychoticism scale.
ANG Anger - (MMPI-2 16 items).
High: The fear of, or actually losing self-control over aggressive impulses, irritable,
impatient, stubborn, physically and/or verbaly abusive, and explosive.
Correlates .80 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility scale.
CYN Cynicism - (MMPI-2 23 items).
17
High: Hostile, suspicious, misanthropic; sees people as manipulative, incompetent,
dishonest and unfair; feels misunderstood, distrustful, exploitive, unsympathetic, selfish,
grandiose, envious, and judgmental.
Correlates .85 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts, and .62 Wiggins Manifest Hostility
scales.
ASP Antisocial Practices - (MMPI-2 22 items).
High: Anti-authority, rationalizing and identifying with criminal behavior, admitting to
antisocial or unlawful behaviors such as stealing or acting out during school years,
dishonesty, selfishness, and exploitiveness. None of the items are associated with violent
behavior.
Correlates .88 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts scale.
TPA Type A - (MMPI-2 19 items).
High: Impatience, easily annoyed with other people who interrupt their tasks which are
valued over social relationships, hard driving, fast paced, task-oriented, vengeful,
humorless, rigid, envious, hostile, competitive, insensitive, can't wait in line,
workaholism, demanding, and racing against the clock. All items are keyed "True".
Correlates .79 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility scale, and also .56 with Wiggins
Hypomania scale.
LSE Low Self-esteem - (MMPI-2 24 items).
High: These individuals do not like themselves, nor could they imagine other people
liking them. They feel unattractive, clumsy, useless, inadequate, unassertive, no self-
confidence, uncomfortable with positive feedback, oversensitve, dependent and confused.
Correlates .81 with Wiggins Low Moral, and .73 with Pt.
SOD Social Discomfort - (MMPI-2 24 items).
High: introverted, shy, social avoidance, dislike of crowds or parties or group activities,
prefers to be alone, and hard to get to know.
Correlates .92 with Wiggins Social Maladjustment, and .85 with Si.
FAM Family Problems - (MMPI-2 25 items).
High: Family is unsupportive, unloving, with a good deal of aggression, rejection, and
hostility. Indications of verbal and physical abuse, marriages are seen as unhappy,
feelings of jealousy, resentment and wish to avoid family members.
Correlates .84 with Wiggins Family Problems.
WRK Work Interference - (MMPI-2 33 items).
High: Difficulties concentrating, anxiety, tension, pressure, lack of self-confidence, lack
of support system, indecisiveness about career choice, negative attitudes toward others,
authority conflicts, lack initiative, impatient, unorganized, lack of confidence, confused
occupational goals, tired, dependent, avoids responsibility, slow paced and may be
passive-aggressive.
Correlates .87 with Welsh's Anxiety, .84 with Wiggins Low Moral, and .82 with Pt.
TRT Negative Treatment Indicators - (MMPI-2 26 items).
High: Negative attitudes toward health care providers and treatment, pessimistic about
individuals being understanding or helpful, not comfortable in self-disclosing, or with
change, pessimistic, low frustration tolerance, defensive, distrustful, indecisive, feel
future is a matter of luck, avoids responsibilty for own actions, dislike of doctors, feel
can't change faults, would rather just take a pill than talk over problems, and believes that
mental illness is a sign of weakness.
Correlates .78 with Welsh's Anxiety, .77 with Wiggins Low Moral, and .72 with Pt.****
Definitions of MMPI-2 CONTENT SUBSCALES
FRS1- Generalized fearfulness (12 items) Fearfulness in daily life, prone to be nervous.
FRS2 - Multiple fears (10 items) Phobic reactions, animals, heights, lightening and fire.
DEP1 - Lack of drive (12 items) Lack of drive and motivation, lacking an interest in
important aspects of life.
DEP2 - Dysphoria (6 items) Depressed mood
DEP3 - Self-Depreciation (7 items) Negative self concept, low level of self confidence.
DEP4 - Suicidal Ideation (5 items) Potential for suicidal acts or gestures.
HEA1 - Gastrointestinal symptoms (5 items) An inordinate number of gastrointestinal
18
complaints.
HEA2 - Neurological symptoms (12 items) Complaints associated with neurological
functioning.
HEA3 - General health concerns (6 items) Preoccupied with health concerns.
BIZ1 - Psychotic Symptomotology (11 items) Delusions and hallucinations.
BIZ2 - Schizotypal Characteristics (9 items) Illusions and ideas of reference.
ANG1 - Explosive behavior (7 items) Violent, explosive, temper tantrums, loud
arguments.
ANG2 - Irritability (7 items) Irritability and grouchiness, impatience, argumentative and
petty.
CYN1 - Misanthropic beliefs (15 items) Unlikely to be willing to turn to others for help,
believing that people are generally selfish.
CYN2 - Interpersonal suspiciousness (8 items) Suspicions that others are out to get him
or her and cause harm.
ASP1 - Antisocial attitudes (16 items) Little respect for the law.
ASP2 - Antisocial practices (5 items) History of antisocial behavior and problems, may
abuse drugs or engage in other reckless and illegal behavior.
TPA1 - Impatience (6 items) Impatience in a rude and inconsiderate manner.
TPA2 - Competitive Drive (9 items) Highly driven to succeed and willing to just about do
anything to do so.
LSE1 - Self-Doubt (11 items) Lacking in self confidence.
LSE2 - Submissiveness (6 items) Being passive and obedient, being prone to give up to
easily.
SOD1 - Introversion (16 items) Dislike the company of others, do not like social events.
SOD2 - Shyness (7 items) Difficult to interact with new people or people whom they do
not know fairly well.
FAM1 - Family discord (12 items) Has experienced or currently is experiencing a
considerable degree of strife and discord on his or her family. DIS- Discontraint (28 items); moderately correlates with ASP and Morey's Antisocial
Personality Disorder scale; high scores tend to have an insufficient delay of gratification,
FAM2 - Family Alienation (5 items) Family not a source of emotional support. be unreliable, rebellious, hedonistic, and acting out.

TRT1 - Low motivation (11 items) Unmotivated, apathetic, lacking in self confidence. AGG- Aggressiveness (18 items);moderately correlates with Ma, ANG, TPA, and with
Morey's Narcissistic and Histrionic scales, and less so with the Antisocial Personality
TRT2 - Inability to disclose (5 items) Unable to open up to others, including members of scale. High scores tend to be grandiose, resentful, cold, and at times cruel. This scale
the helping professions. assesses a sort of hostile narcissist.

LPE- Low positive emotionality (34 items); highly correlates with D, Si, DEP, SOD,
and with Morey's Avoidant, Schizotypal and Schizoid scales. It negatively correlates with
Morey's Narcissistic and Histrionic scales. High scores have low energy, withdrawn,
anhedonia, and low self-esteem; high NEN has more negative emotionality, whereas LPE
has more a Schizoid or impoverished emotional life.

THE PERSONALITY PSYCHOPATHOLOGY FIVE (PSY-5)

Definitions of MMPI/MMPI-2: Supplementary Scales
(Harkness, McNulty, & Ben-Porath, 1995); COMMONLY SCORED SUPPLEMENTAL SCALES

These are five rationally deduced content scales to assess the domain of traits often found Generally, T65 should be considered "High", and below T40 "Low". Since, these scales
in personality disorders. are not K-corrected, many of them are effected by response bias. Be sure to look at L, F
and K before interpreting them.
Supplemental Scales found on both the MMPI and MMPI-2
NEN- Negative emotionality/ Neuroticism (33 items); highly correlated with A and Pt;
-worry, stress, hypersensitivity, emotional under control.
A Anxiety - Welsh (1954). (MMPI 39 items, MMPI-2 39 items).
PSY- Psychoticism (25 items); highly correlated with F, Sc, Pa, and Morey’s Paranoid
High: Manifest anxiety and depression, pessimistic, apathetic, shy, lacks self-confidence,
Personality Disorder scale; high scores have-poor reality testing, are suspicious, and
externalizes blame and disorganized.
hostile.
Low: Denies feelings of anxiety, self-confident, competitive, manipulative, extroverted
and active.

19

Correlates .93 with Wiggins Depression, .92 with Dependency, .89 with Wiggins Poor
Morale, .86 with D5 Brooding, and .68 with Psychasthenia. This is Welsh's first factor of
the MMPI items. What you get is a general psychopathology scale, not just "anxiety".
The items are obvious and therefore sensitive to response bias. Welsh's A is more
pathological than scale 7 Pyschasthenia. The A factor may represent an acute crisis,
whereas 7 is more characterlogical anxiety.
R Repression - Welsh (1954). (MMPI 40 items, MMPI-2 37 items).
High: Utilizing repression, denial, rationalization,lacking self-insight, unwilling to
discuss personal shortcomings, conventional, constricted and over-controlled.
Low: Outgoing, talkative, excitable, emotional, willing to discuss personal problems,
extroverted, dominant, impulsive, and aggressive.
Correlates -.55 Wiggins Hypomania, -.55 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility, and .49 D-S
Denial. I use R to help detect subtle fake good profiles. If R is greater than T 69, and the
clinical scales look normal, consider them defensively submerged. Caldwell (1988) calls
this scale "Constriction". High R's are difficult to treat in insight therapy.
MAC-R (MAC MMPI) Alcoholism - MacAndrew (1965). (MMPI 49 items, MMPI-2
49 items).
High: Elevations of the MAC-R/MAC Scale represent an overall addiction-prone
personality. The addictions may be to alcohol or drugs, tobacco, caffeine, or activities,
e.g., gambling. High scores are generally considered to be raw scores of 28 or more.
Social imperturbability, authority conflicts, impulsive, unusual and bizarre thoughts,
interests in stereotypic masculine interests, psychosomatic complaints, extroverted,
feelings of guilt, regrets over past deeds, feels victimized, likes to cook, admits to having
blank spells, enjoys gambling, insensitive, magical thinking, narcissistic, ostentatious, not
introspective,not intellectually oriented, difficulty concentrating and an idealization and
devaluation of women.
Low: Less than a Raw score of 24 in an individual is not likely to be addicted to activities
or substances. Insightful, sensitive, rational, shy and good impulse control.
Mac wasn't correlated to any of the other scales in my sample. Nichols (1989) reports
moderate correlations with Ma, AUT, HOS, and HYP. It's a unique subtle scale. It will
detect addiction proneness, even with the most defensive individuals. It seems to measure
an enduring trait of oral narcissism. This scale represents an excellant example of my
belief in subtle empirical scales. MacAndrew removed two items making obvious
reference to alcohol. MAC-R has 4 religious items removed and replaced with obvious
items concerning alcohol and drug abuse. This should help make it less an "Irish
Catholic" scale.
20
Es Ego-Strength - Barron (1953c). (MMPI 68 items, MMPI-2 52 items).
High: The Ego Strength scale, like the other positive personality scales, is susceptible to
faking to look good. If this is indicated, the Ego Strength scale is not predictive of
individuals likely to benefit from insight psychotherapy. Typically, high scorers are able
to tolerate the confrontations in psychotherapy and benefit from them, tend to lack
chronic psychopathology, be alert, persistent, self-confident, intelligent and resourceful,
excellent reality testing, good interpersonal coping skills, strongly developed interests,
somewhat rebellious, competitive, and cynical.
Low: More likely to be diagnosed as psychotic than neurotic, poor self-concept, feels
helpless, has chronic physical complaints, chronic fatigue, phobias, withdrawn, confused,
inhibited, stereotypic approach to problems,rigid, moralistic, exaggerates problems and a
poor work history.
Correlates -.80 with D-O, -.77 with Hy-O, -.76 with D1 Subjective Depression, -.74
Wiggins Depression, and -.74 D. One of the most important MMPI/MMPI-2 scales.
Caldwell (1988) considers Es a "practical self-sufficiency" scale. Low scorers have
trouble making it on their own.
Do Dominance - Gough, McClosky, &Meehl (1957a). (MMPI 28 items, MMPI-2 25
items).
High: Assertive, resourceful, likely to hold positions of responsibility or leadership,
realistic and task-oriented, perseveres, good reality testing and optimistic.
Low: Pessimistic, lacks self-confidence, rigid in their problem- solving approaches, low
tolerance for frustration, unrealistic and undependable.
Correlates -.81 with Pd-O, -.76 Welsh Anxiety, -.74 with Wiggins Depression, and -.73
with Dependency. A good scale of confidence and ability to manage personal problems
and responsibilities. Not related bossiness unless 4 and/or 9 are also elevated
(Caldwell,1988).
Re Social Responsibility - Gough, McClosky &Meehl (1957a). (MMPI 32 items,
MMPI-2 30 items).
High: (>T59) Sense of duty, strong standards , self-confident, confidence in others, strong
sense of justice and ethical concerns.
Low:Unwilling to acceptresponsibility forown behaviors, undependable, not likely to
assume positions of leadership or responsibility within a group. Correlates -.69 with Ma-
O, -.68 with Sc5 Defective Inhibition, -.63 with Wiggins Psychoticism, and -.63 with Pd-
O. Duckworth and Anderson (1986) suggest that Re represents the acceptance or rejection
of a previously held value system.
O-H OvercontrolledHostility - Megargee,Cook &Mendelson (1967). (MMPI 31
items, MMPI-2 28 items).
High: High scores report an absence of symptoms such as anxiety and depression,
tendency to use denial and repression, compliant and unassertive, chronic anger, and
persistent dreaming. For individuals who are not psychopathic, borderline or psychotic,
O-H is not predictive of assaultive behaviors, but the rigid control of aggressive impulses.
Low: Admitting to anxiety, depression and aggressive impulses.
Correlates -.73 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility, -.61 with Welsh Anxiety, and .60 with K.
Walters and Greene (1983) found five factors in O-H: Absence of Manifest
Symptomatology, Denial,
Chronic Hostility, Persistent Dreaming, and Social Compliance. This scale was developed
by comparing overcontrolled prison inmates who committed or attempted murder to
prison inmates who commonly were assaultive. These prisoners did not have a history of
aggression, but were pushed too far and exploded homicidally. How useful this scale is
out of the context of prisoners is questionable. (Finney's Unconscious Acting Out
Hostility is a far more valuable scale). High functioning normals will have moderately
high scores, since they are reporting little anxiety, depression and anger. Neurotics with
high scores tend to be very uptight, defensive and overcontrolled. Psychopaths,
borderlines and psychotics with high scores may swing from being overcontrolled to
becoming unexpectedly assaultive.
Ho-Hostility (Cook and Medley, 1954) (50 items); developed to predict teachers rapport
with students based on their scores on the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory; highly
correlates with CYN, (negatively with K), TPA, ASP, Sc and moderately with ANG, BIZ,
TRT, and Pt. The basic factor structure reflects Cynicism, Hypersensitivity, Aggressive
responding, and Social avoidance. This scale is often used in research which shows Hoâs
relationship with disease, a good over all measure of high levels of anger, cynicism,
unfriendliness, anxiety, depression and suspicion.
Mt College Maladjustment - Kleinmuntz (1962). (MMPI 43 items, MMPI-2 41
items).
High: Developed to identify students in need of treatment. Psychosomatic complaints,
poor concentration, lethargy, depression, lack of self-confidence, irritable, overly
sensitive, sleep disturbance and anxiety.
Low: Motivated, energetic, optimistic, self-confident and good judgment.
Correlates .90 with D-O, .90 with D4 Mental Dullness, .89 with Welsh Anxiety, and .89
with D1 Subjective Depression. This scale picks up subjective distress in a crisis.
21
Cn Control of Psychopathology - Cuadra (1953). (MMPI 50 items).
High: For individuals with elevated clinical scales, high Cn score indicates an ability to
control problems and inhibit their manifest expression. A high Cn score and the absence
of marked elevations in clinical scales suggests a reserved and unemotional individual.
High scorers may be aware of weaknesses, overly sensitive to social criticism, have non-
traditional religious beliefs, rebellious towards authority, exploring, risk-taking and
realistic.
Low: Low scores without marked elevations on the clinical scales generally suggest the
absence of serious psychopathology. Low scores with elevations in clinical scales suggest
people who have difficulty controlling their impulses or behaviors. They may require
milieu management such as hospitalization. They may also tend to be conventional,
moralistic, have traditional religious beliefs and unrealistic self-appraisal.
Correlates .66 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility, and .62 with Welsh Anxiety. A complex
scale that must be interpreted according to it's context. This is a very useful scale, but
because of it's complexity it's often misunderstood. High scorers in my sample seem to be
aware of their problems, and have the ego strength to appear well adjusted.
Pr Prejudice - Gough (1951b). (MMPI 32 items).
High: (>T59) Envious, anti-intellectual, rigid beliefs, cynical and distrustful, pessimistic,
devalues others, bitter, dogmatic, and interpersonal discomfort.
Low: (P> Correlates .80 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts, .78 with Si5 Distrust, and .73
with Sc1 Social Alienation. This is a very important unique subtle scale. Originally,
developed on people with anti-Semitic attitudes, the scale measures dogmatic and
defensive thinking in hostile individuals. High scorers tend to have lower I.Q.'s than low
scorers. The scale is empirical evidence that anti-Semites are pathological jerks. Why was
this scale was omited from the MMPI-2?
Dy Dependency - Navran (1952b). (MMPI 57 items).
High: (>T59) Generally maladjusted, consciously admits to strong dependency needs,
feels misunderstood, indecisive, lack of self-confidence, overly sensitive, and somatic
complaints.
Low: Independent, or denies dependency needs, feels understood, happy, and self-
confident.
Correlates .92 with Welsh Anxiety, .90 with Wiggins Depression, and .87 with Wiggins
Poor Morale. This is a rationally derived content scale with all obvious items. It relates to
the admission of general psychopathology. It's not really a measure of dependency.
 Correlates -.69 with Prejudice, and -.64 with Si. An important prognostic indicator for
Lbp Low Back Pain - Hanvik (1949). (MMPI 25 items). responsiveness to psychotherapy.

High: (mixed >T57, functional >T69) More likely that chronic low back pain is
functional, and less likely to find relief from surgery. Moderate elevations between T57
and T69 and more likely to have a mixed organic-functional syndrome. A variety of
psychosomatic complaints, restless, tends to cover up feelings of inadequacies or
insecurities, reserved, appears overtly comfortable in social situations while there is an
underlying tension and discomfort the person tends to deny.
Low: If low back pain complaints, then contraindicative of a functional disorder, somatic
complaints limited to low back pain, generally happy and contented, does not deny
feelings of aggression and shy.

Correlates .56 with Hs, and .54 with Hy. A unique and subtle scale of defensiveness.

Ca Caudality - Williams (1952a). (MMPI 36 items).

Developed to discriminate between OBS patients with frontal lobe versus parietal lobe
brain damage. Raw score of 11 differentiated at a 98% hit rate. Generally should not be
used as a test for organicity.

High: If OBS, may have posterial localization of damage. Frontal lobe damage does not
generally cause emotional symptoms. For non-

OBS patients; a general measure of reported psychological discomfort, feelings of anxiety

and depression, physical complaints, fear of losing control, and difficulty dealing with
stress.
Low: If OBS, consider frontal lobe involvement. For non-OBS patients: Denies
complaints of anxiety, depression, and somatic difficulties. Self-confidence, control of
emotions and thoughts.
Correlates .89 with Welsh Anxiety, and .89 with D1 Subjective Depression. Ca is just
another scale of manifest anxiety.
St Social Status - Gough (1957a). (MMPI 34 items).
High: (>T59) Self-assurance, poise, intelligent, may be academically successful, desires
the nicer things in life, reserved in regard to personal problems, conventional, ambitious,
and may be motivated to change in psychotherapy.
Low: Typical of someone from a lower social class, lack of self- confidence, submissive, non-
ambitious, low self-esteem.
Supplemental Scales Found On the MMPI-2
and Not On the MMPI
These include the two gender role scales, and the two post-traumatic stress disorder scales.
The definitions of the three new Si sub-scales are defined in the section "Definitions of MMPI
and MMPI-2 Clinical and Subscales". All these scales are new and experimental. The
definitions are tentative and based on item content. Low scores are not interpreted.
GM Masculine Sex Role - Peterson (1988). (MMPI-2 47 items).
Stoic denial of aches, pains, complaints, or weaknesses. Denial of psychological fears or
problems. Traditional masculine interests such as science and technology, adventure and
rough play versus romance stories, poetry, library work, nursing, plants and flowers.
Independent and confident, and a denial of concern over appearance.

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GF Feminine Sex Role - Peterson (1988). (MMPI-2 46 items).

Traditional feminine interests such as liking plants and flowers, poetry, cooking, playing
house, hopscotch, jump rope. Constricted, moralistic, prudish, critical of sexual and
aggressive expressions, concern for appearance, mother identification, socializing as an
emotional outlet, dislikes traditional male interests such as sports, hunting, military
interests, mechanics magazines, and building; overly sensitive, did not act out as a child
or as an adolescent, not confident, well mannered, and family loyalty.

Pk Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - Keane, Malloy &Fairbanks (1984). (MMPI-2 46 items).

Will not differentiate between people with serious severe psychopathology such as
borderlines or basically healthy people with a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or
malingerers. Guilt, remorse, resentment, feeling misunderstood, loss of emotional control,
poor concentration, poor memory, hostility, poor sleep, nightmares, depression, lack of
confidence, anxiety, obsessional thoughts, bizarre thoughts, and social avoidance.

Ps Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - Schlenger (1987). (MMPI-2 60 items).

Will not be able to differentiate between individuals with severe enduring

psychopathology and people with a Post-traumatic Stress Disorder or malingering.
Similar to the Pk Scale, but appears to have a bit more emphasis on psychosomatic and
fatigue problems, fear of going crazy, losing one's mind, and sense of dread in addition to
feelings of guilt, remorse, resentment, feeling misunderstood, loss of emotional controls,
poor concentration, poor memory, hostility, poor sleep, nightmares, depression, lack of
confidence, anxiety and obsessional thoughts, bizarre thoughts, and social avoidance.

Other Valuable Scales Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales

These are scales that I have found to add significantly to assessment in a unique way.
They assess subtle hostility and are often one of the only elevated scales in a fake to look
good profile. They work when other scales quite. The keys could be found in Dahlstrom,
Welsh and Dahlstrom vol.II (1975).
Habitual Criminalism - Panton (1962a). A good scale of subtle paranoia,
externalization of blame, and defensiveness.
Unconscious Acting Out Hostility- Finney (1965a). A great measure of passive-
agression.
These scales are the more obvious, distinct, and supposedly clearer forms of the Clinical
scales (Tellegen, Ben-Porath, McNulty, Arbisi, Graham, and Kaemmer, 2003). They may
be helpful in interpreting the Clinical scales.
RCd- dem- Demoralization- (24 items)- a measure of overall emotional discomfort; a
general psychopathology factor used to compare with the other scales in which this factor
was removed for the most part. Feeling discouraged, demoralized, pessimistic, poor self-
esteem, and over whelmed.
RC1- som- Somatic Complains- (27 items)- very similar to it’s Clinical Scale
counterpart, Hypochondrasis-1, excessive preoccupation with bodily and health concerns.
Complains of weakness, fatigue, and chronic pain. Prone toward somatization and may
experience physical problems as a result of stress. This scale does not rule out physical
disease.

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RC2- lpe- Low Positive Emotions- (17 items)- depressed, pessimistic, withdrawn,
anhedonia, bored, low energy, and indecisive.
RC3- cyn- Cynicism- (15 items)- this is the “Naively Trusting” sub-scale of Hysteria-3
standing on its head. Since the Clinical Hysteria scale reflects the complex dynamics of
Hysteria, this scale represents the insightless purification of scale 3, and therefore it has
nothing to do with Hysteria. It is a measure of cynicism. This scale is unlikely to be
helpful in understanding elevations in scale 3. The Hysteric denies aggressive motives
and converts aggression into somatization. This scale is simply the items about the belief
that other people are untrustworthy, dishonest, uncaring, and exploitive.
RC4- asb- Antisocial Behavior- (22 items)- a pure measure of anti-social tendencies,
whereas scale 4 is complex and may be elevated mainly due to demoralization. Measures
aggressiveness, antagonism, argumentativeness, tendency to lie, cheat, difficulty
conforming to societal norms, acting out, substance abuse, family conflicts and poor
achievement.
RC6- per- Ideas of Persecution- (17 items)- similar to Pa Obvious or Pa1, measures
persecutory ideation.
RC7- dne- Dysfunctional Negative Emotions- (24 items)- anxiety, irritability,
unhappiness, helplessness, rumination, worry, over-sensitivity, guilt, intrusive thoughts.
RC8- abx- Aberrant Experiences- (18 items)- hallucinations, bizarre perceptual
experiences, delusional beliefs, impaired reality testing; scorers T65-74 may have
schizotypal traits, and scorers >T74 may be psychotic.
RC9- hpm- Hypomanic Activation- (28 items)- grandiose, sensation seeking, risk-
taking, poor impulse control, euphoria, excitation, decreased need for sleep, racing
thoughts, and aggression. Scorers >T74 may be experiencing a hypomanic or manic
episode.

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