Is the MMPI an Appropriate Assessment Device for Blacks?

Abstract

This article asked whether the MMPI, the inventory most frequently used to assess psychopathology and per sonality, should continue to be employed to evaluate Blacks, given the fact that it was normed exclusively on Whites. Blacks, especially normal individuals, typically obtain significantly higher scores than Whites on scales measuring nonconformity, alienation, and impulsivity. Blacks also differ from Whites in their responses to a large portion of the 550 items. Clinicians and automated sys tems often interpret these differences as indicating that Blacks are more maladjusted than Whites, but there is no empirical evidence to support this conclusion. Misin terpretations could be reduced by developing special norms, adjusting scores by means of Race-Sensitive scale values or by deriving behavioral correlates for Blacks' MMPI profiles. Ideally, inventories that measure adjust ment, but also have additional dimensions more relevant to job and school performance, should be developed to help in the assessment of Blacks and other large minority groups.