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Evaluating the MMPI-3’s utility in the assessment of pathological personality traits

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Abstract

This study examined the utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) in the assessment of personality disorders (PDs). Participants included undergraduate students who were administered the MMPI-3 and the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5-Short Form (PID-5-SF) as a measure of dimensional pathological personality traits. We examined associations between the MMPI-3 and the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) of the DSM-5, with a particular emphasis on the MMPI-3 Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY-5) scales. Results demonstrated MMPI-3 scales were largely convergent with both the PID-5 domain and facet scores. Given their conceptual overlap, we examined the joint factor structure of the MMPI-3 PSY-5 scales and the PID-5-SF trait facets and found strong empirical convergence of these conceptual models. The results provide a necessary update to personality assessment with the MMPI-3 and provide further insight into the use of the MMPI instruments in assessing personality psychopathology in the AMPD.

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Data availability

Data used in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Philosophy, Sam Houston State University, Campus Box 2447, Huntsville, TX, 77341, USA

    Stephanie Haugh, Danna Ramirez, Kelsey Priebe, Ryan J. Marek & Jaime L. Anderson

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  1. Stephanie Haugh
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  2. Danna Ramirez
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  3. Kelsey Priebe
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  4. Ryan J. Marek
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Correspondence to Jaime L. Anderson.

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Conflict of interest

Jaime L. Anderson and Ryan J. Marek receive active funding (unrelated to this project) from the University of Minnesota Press, publisher of the MMPI instruments.

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Haugh, S., Ramirez, D., Priebe, K. et al. Evaluating the MMPI-3’s utility in the assessment of pathological personality traits. Curr Psychol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05859-z

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