Editing Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (section)

== Criticism ==

Like many standardized tests, scores on the various scales of the MMPI-2 and the MMPI-2-RF are not representative of either percentile rank or how "well" or "poorly" someone has done on the test. Rather, analysis looks at relative elevation of factors compared to the various norm groups studied. Raw scores on the scales are transformed into a standardized metric known as T-scores (mean equals 50, [[standard deviation]] equals 10), making interpretation easier for clinicians. Test manufacturers and publishers ask test purchasers to prove they are qualified to purchase the MMPI/MMPI-2/MMPI-2-RF and other tests.<ref>i.e.Pearson's Qualifications policy, http://www.pearsonclinical.com/psychology/qualifications.html</ref>

===Addition of the Lees-Haley FBS (Symptom Validity) ===
{{main|Lees-Haley Fake Bad Scale}}

Psychologist Paul Lees-Haley developed the FBS (Fake Bad Scale). Although the FBS acronym remains in use, the official name for the scale changed to Symptom Validity Scale when it was incorporated into the standard scoring reports produced by Pearson, the licensed publisher.<ref>{{cite web|title=MMPI-2 Symptom Validity Scale (FBS)|url=https://www.upress.umn.edu/test-division/mtdda/mmpi-2-symptom-validity-scale-fbs|work=Pearson Assessments|publisher=Pearson Clinical Psychology|access-date=19 May 2014}}</ref> Some psychologists question the validity and utility of the FBS scale. The peer-reviewed journal ''[[Psychological Injury and Law (journal)|Psychological Injury and Law]]'' published a series of pro and con articles in 2008, 2009, and 2010.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Butcher | first1 = James N. | last2 = Gass | first2 = Carlton S. | last3 = Cumella | first3 = Edward | last4 = Kally | first4 = Zina | last5 = Williams | first5 = Carolyn L. | title = Potential for Bias in MMPI-2 Assessments Using the Fake Bad Scale (FBS) | journal = Psychological Injury and Law | volume = 1 | issue = 3 | pages = 191–209 | year = 2008 | doi = 10.1007/s12207-007-9002-z | s2cid = 143783118 }}</ref><ref name=bp2008>{{cite journal | last1 = Ben-Porath | first1 = Yossef S. | last2 = Greve | first2 = Kevin W. | last3 = Bianchini | first3 = Kevin J. | last4 = Kaufmann | first4 = Paul M. | title = The MMPI-2 Symptom Validity Scale (FBS) is an Empirically Validated Measure of Overreporting in Personal Injury Litigants and Claimants: Reply to Butcher et al. (2008) | journal = Psychological Injury and Law | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages = 62–85 | year = 2009 | doi = 10.1007/s12207-009-9037-4 | s2cid = 143732509 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Williams | first1 = Carolyn L. | last2 = Butcher | first2 = James N. | last3 = Gass | first3 = Carlton S. | last4 = Cumella | first4 = Edward | last5 = Kally | first5 = Zina | title = Inaccuracies About the MMPI-2 Fake Bad Scale in the Reply by Ben-Porath, Greve, Bianchini, and Kaufman (2009) | journal = Psychological Injury and Law | volume = 2 | issue = 2 | pages = 182–197 | year = 2009 | doi = 10.1007/s12207-009-9046-3 | s2cid = 144695016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gass | first1 = Carlton S. | last2 = Williams | first2 = Carolyn L. | last3 = Cumella | first3 = Edward | last4 = Butcher | first4 = James N. | last5 = Kally | first5 = Zina | title = An Ambiguous Measure of Unknown Constructs: The MMPI-2 Fake Bad Scale (a.k.a. Symptom Validity Scale, FBS, FBS-r) | journal = Psychological Injury and Law | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages =81–85 | year = 2010 | doi = 10.1007/s12207-009-9063-2 | s2cid = 144642776 }}</ref> Investigations of the factor structure of the Symptom Validity Scale (FBS and FBS-r) raise doubts about the scale's construct and predictive validity in the detection of [[Malingering of post-traumatic stress disorder|malingering]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gass | first1 = Carlton S. | last2 = Odland | first2 = Anthony P. | title = MMPI-2 Revised Form Symptom Validity Scale-Revised (MMPI-2-RF FBS-r; also known as Fake Bad Scale): Psychometric characteristics in a nonlitigation neuropsychological setting. | journal = Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology | volume = 34 | issue = 6 | pages = 561–570 | year = 2012 | pmid =  22384793| doi = 10.1080/13803395.2012.666228 | s2cid = 24986442 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gass | first1 = Carlton S. | last2 = Odland | first2 = Anthony P. | title = MMPI-2 Symptom Validity (FBS) Scale: Psychometric characteristics and limitations in a Veterans Affairs neuropsychological setting.) | journal = Applied Neuropsychology: Adult | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 1–8 | year = 2014 | pmid =  24826489| doi = 10.1080/09084282.2012.715608 | s2cid = 8424957 }}</ref>

===Racial disparity===

One of the biggest criticisms of the original MMPI has been the difference between whites and non-whites.

In the 1970s, Charles McCreary and Eligio Padilla from [[UCLA]] compared scores of black, white and Mexican-American men and found that non-whites tended to score five points higher on the test. They stated: "There is continuing controversy about the appropriateness of the MMPI when decisions involve persons from non-white racial and ethnic backgrounds. In general, studies of such divergent populations as prison inmates, medical patients, psychiatric patients, and high school and college students have found that blacks usually score higher than whites on the L, F, Sc, and Ma scales. There is near agreement that the notion of more psychopathology in racial ethnic minority groups is simplistic and untenable. Nevertheless, three divergent explanations of racial differences on the MMPI have been suggested. Black-white MMPI differences reflect variations in values, conceptions, and expectations that result from growing up in different cultures. Another point of view maintains that differences on the MMPI between blacks and whites are not a reflection of racial differences, but rather a reflection of overriding socioeconomic variations between racial groups. Thirdly, MMPI scales may reflect socioeconomic factors, while other scales are primarily race-related."<ref>McCreary, C., & Padilla, E. (1977). MMPI differences among black, Mexican-American, and white male offenders. ''Journal of Clinical Psychology'', 33(1), 171-172.</ref>