A Principal Components Analysis of the BPI and MMPI

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the Bipolar Psychological Inventory (BPI) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The BPI was designed for a correctional setting and the MMPI, while designed for a psychiatric setting, has been used extensively in corrections. More scales from the BPI loaded heavily on the Intra-Psychic Pain, Belligerent, Social Withdrawal, Sexual Identity, and Young Radical components. This suggests that the BPI does a more adequate job with the character disorders that constitute the majority of a prison population. No scales from the BPI loaded heavily on the components named Psychotic and Disowned Problems. This suggests that the BPI would not adequately identify the psychotic inmates which constitute less than 10% of the typical prison population.