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Table 11.3 Some of the Major Subscales of the MMPI
Abbreviation Description What is measured No. of items
Hs Hypochondriasis Concern with bodily symptoms 32
D Depression Depressive symptoms 57
Hy Hysteria Awareness of problems and vulnerabilities 60
Pd Psychopathic deviate Conflict, struggle, anger, respect for society’s rules 50
MF Masculinity/femininity Stereotypical masculine or feminine interests/behaviors 56
Pa Paranoia Level of trust, suspiciousness, sensitivity 40
Pt Psychasthenia Worry, anxiety, tension, doubts, obsessiveness 48
Sc Schizophrenia Odd thinking and social alienation 78
Ma Hypomania Level of excitability 46
Si Social introversion People orientation 69
To interpret the results, the clinician looks at the pattern of responses across the different
subscales and makes a diagnosis about the potential psychological problems facing the patient.
Although clinicians prefer to interpret the patterns themselves, a variety of research has
demonstrated that computers can often interpret the results as well as can clinicians (Garb, 1998;
Karon, 2000). [28]Extensive research has found that the MMPI-2 can accurately predict which of
many different psychological disorders a person suffers from (Graham, 2006).[29]
One potential problem with a measure like the MMPI is that it asks people to consciously report
on their inner experiences. But much of our personality is determined by unconscious processes
of which we are only vaguely or not at all aware. Projective measures are measures of
personality in which unstructured stimuli, such as inkblots, drawings of social situations, or
incomplete sentences, are shown to participants, who are asked to freely list what comes to mind
as they think about the stimuli. Experts then score the responses for clues to personality. The
proposed advantage of these tests is that they are more indirect—they allow the respondent to
freely express whatever comes to mind, including perhaps the contents of their unconscious
experiences.