The use of scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) to detect defensiveness in criminal and nonclinical samples was evaluated. Forty-five male inmates of a county jail and 38 male undergraduate psychology students were provided with incentives to complete the PAI under two conditions: standard instructions and experimental instructions to feign a specific, positive role. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) yielded significant main effects of condition (responding honestly or defensively), order (standard vs. defensive instructions first) and group (student or offender). A step-wise discriminant function analysis significantly predicted honest and feigning conditions with a hit rate of 84.1%. A more effective cutting score for the Positive Impression scale is recommended.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Austin, S. J.
(1992). The detection of fake good and fake bad on the MMPI-2. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, 669-674.
2.
Baer, R. A.
, Wetter, M. W., & Berry, D. T. (1992). Detection of underreporting of psychopathology on the MMPI: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 12, 509-525.
3.
Bagby, R. M.
, Gillis, J. R., & Dickens, S. D. (1990). Detection of dissimulation with the new generation of objective personality measures. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 8, 93-102.
4.
Bagby, R. M.
, Gillis, J. R., Toner, B. B., & Goldberg, J. (1991). Detecting fake-good and fake-bad responding on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II. Psychological Assessment, 3, 496-498.
5.
Berry, D. T. R.
(1994, April). Detecting distortion in forensic evaluations of the MMPI-2. Paper presented at the Sixth Kent State University Forum on Forensic Uses of the MMPI-2, Millersburg, OH.
6.
Butcher, J. N.
, Dahlstrom, W. G., Graham, J. R., Tellegen, A., & Kaemmer, B. (1989). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2: Manual for administration and scoring. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
7.
Cassissi, J. E.
, & Workman, D. E. (1992). The detection of malingering and deception with a short form of the MMPI-2 based on the L, F, and K scales. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 48, 54-58.
8.
Cofer, C. N.
, Chance, J., & Judson, A. J. (1949). A study of malingering on the MMPI. Journal of Psychology, 27, 491-499.
9.
Crown, D.
, & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349-354.
10.
Graham, J. R.
, Watts, D., & Timbrook, R. E. (1991). Detecting fake-good and fake-bad MMPI-2 profiles. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 264-277.
11.
Greene, R. L.
(1988). Assessment of malingering and defensiveness by objective personality inventories. In R. Rogers (Ed.), Clinical assessment of malingering and deception (pp. 123-158). New York: Guilford.
12.
Greene, R. L.
(1991). The MMPI-2/MMPI: An interpretive manual. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
13.
Hathaway, S. R.
, & McKinley,J. C. (1943). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Rev. ed.). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
14.
Herkov, M. J.
, Archer, R. P., & Gordon, R. A. (1991). MMPI response sets among adolescents: An evaluation of the limitation of the subtle-obvious subscales. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 3, 424-426.
15.
Jackson, D. N.
(1989). Basic Personality Inventory manual. Port Huron, MI: Sigma Assessment Systems.
16.
Kelly, D. B.
, & Greene, R. L. (1989). Detection of fake good on the MMPI in a psychiatric inpatient population. Psychological Reports, 65, 747-750.
17.
Kroger, R.
, & Turnbull, W. (1975). Invalidity of validity scales: The case of the MMPI. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 48-55.
18.
Lanyon, R. I.
, Dannenbaum, S. E., Wolf, L. L., & Brown, A. R. (1989). Dimensions of deceptive responding in criminal offenders. Psychological Assessment, 1, 300-304.
19.
Millon, T.
(1982). Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.
20.
Millon, T.
(1987). Manual for the MCMI-II (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.
21.
Morey, L. C.
(1991). The Personality Assessment Inventory professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
22.
Morey, L. C.
(1993). Defensiveness and malingering indices for the PAI. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.
23.
Otto, R. K.
, Lang, A. R., Megargee, E. J., & Rosenblatt, A. I. (1988). Ability of alcoholics to escape detection by the MMPI. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 3, 452-457.
24.
Peterson, G. W.
, Clark, D. A., & Bennett, B. (1989). The utility of the MMPI subtle, obvious scales for detecting fake good and fake bad response sets. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 45, 575-583.
25.
Rogers, R.
(1984). Towards an empirical model of malingering. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 2, 93-112.
26.
Rogers, R.
(Ed.) (1988). Clinical assessment of malingering and deception. New York: Guilford.
27.
Rogers, R.
(1995). Diagnostic and structured interviewing: A handbook for psychologists. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
28.
Shedler, J.
, Mayman, M., & Manis, M. (1993). The illusion of mental health. American Psychologist, 48, 1117-1131.
29.
Tabachneck, B. G.
, & Fidell, L. S. (1983). Using multivariate statistics. New York: Harper and Row.
30.
Walters, G. D.
(1988). Assessing dissimulation and denial on the MMPI in a sample of maximum security, male inmates. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52, 465-447.
31.
Weed, N. C.
, Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Butcher, J. N. (1990). Failure of the Wiener and Harmon Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) subtle scales as personality descriptors and as validity indicators. Psychological Assessment, 2, 281-285.
32.
Wiggins, J. S.
(1959). Interrelationships among MMPI measures of dissimulation under standard and social desirability instructions. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 23, 419-427.
33.
Woychyshyn, C. A.
, McElheran, W. G., & Romney, D. M. (1992). MMPI validity measures: A comparative study of original with alternative indices. Journal of Personality Assessment, 58, 138-148.
