Of the 64 items of the MMPI F scale, 41 were rewritten by three judges with a view toward reducing item ambiguity and reading difficulty. Scores on the revised (F′) scale were significantly higher than those on the original scale (F) in a total of 198 Ss from several colleges and a professional group. The test-retest reliability of the F′ scale was 88, whereas that of the F was .77. We feel that the revision of the scale may perhaps increase its reliability by reducing the communality of several items through an increase of the social desirability of deviant responses.
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