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The MMPI-2: Development and Research Issues

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Advances in Psychological Assessment

Part of the book series: Advances in Psychological Assessment ((AIPA,volume 8))

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Abstract

Despite the volumes of supporting research its popularity promotes, the MMPI’s prominence quickly converts into disadvantage when discussion turns to the revision of this historic personality inventory. First, there appears to be some inertia where clinical practice and research tradition is concerned. This is true whether or not a particular method of assessment or mode of therapy has a research literature to support it, but is especially pronounced when generations of users fear the destruction of an instrument which has served them well while in the process of “improvement.” Second, among those who agreed that revision of the MMPI was necessary to some degree, there existed nearly as many proposed types of revisions as there were proponents of revisions. Suggestions ranged from the conservative (a simple renorming) to the radical (a complete abandonment of its empirical roots in favor of a more “modern” approach), and vehemence was equally distributed along this continuum. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the decades of “bootstrapping” promoted by the MMPI’s popularity have tied the test’s utility to a particular set of items. There is no a priori construct explication underlying the MMPI scales which permits painless item substitution or revision. Presumably, the further a new instrument strays from the stimulus materials indicated in empirical research, the weaker our confidence in the application of empirical findings to the revised instrument.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Nathan C. Weed (Instructor) & James N. Butcher (Professor)

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  1. Nathan C. Weed
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  2. James N. Butcher
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA

    James C. Rosen (Professor and Director of the Clinical Psychology Program) (Professor and Director of the Clinical Psychology Program)

  2. University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Paul McReynolds (Emeritus Professor of Psychology) (Emeritus Professor of Psychology)

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Weed, N.C., Butcher, J.N. (1992). The MMPI-2: Development and Research Issues. In: Rosen, J.C., McReynolds, P. (eds) Advances in Psychological Assessment. Advances in Psychological Assessment, vol 8. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9101-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9101-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9103-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9101-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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