The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and Personality Assessment Inventory

Abstract

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and its revision the MMPI-2 have been the subjects of well over 10,000 published studies investigating their use and properties. There are many summary studies of validity and reliability issues (Cottle, 1950; Dahlstrom & Welsh, 1960; Dahlstrom, Welsh, & Dahlstrom, 1975; Gravitz & Gerton, 1976; Hathaway & McKinley, 1942; Hathaway & Meehl, 1951; Holzberg & Alessi, 1949; Horn, Wanberg, & Appel, 1973; Johnson, Klingler, & Williams, 1977; Kroger & Turnbull, 1975; McKinley & Hathaway, 1942, 1944; Mehlman & Rand, 1960; Ritter, 1974), including metaanalytic studies (Atkinson, 1986; Hiller, Rosenthal, Bornstein, Berry, & Brunell-Neulieb, 1999; Parker, Hanson, & Hunsley, 1988). Although the MMPI is one of the most frequently used and researched instruments, psychometric weaknesses have been identified such as those discussed in David Rogers’ review of the original MMPI in The Seventh Mental Measurements Yearbook (1972).