A caution on the use of the MMPI K-correction in research on psychosomatic medicine

The MMPI K scale is widely used to screen for invalid responses and to adjust substantive scale scores for defensiveness. In a normal volunteer sample, correlations of MMPI clinical scales and the Cook-Medley Hostility (HO) scale with self-reports and peer ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory (N...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychosomatic medicine 1989, Vol.51 (1), p.58-65
Main Authors: MCCRAE, R. R, COSTA, P. T. JR, DAHLSTROM, W. G, BAREFOOT, J. C, SIEGLER, I. C, WILLIAMS, R. B. JR
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Defense Mechanisms
Female
Hostility
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
MMPI
Neurotic Disorders - psychology
Nosology. Terminology. Diagnostic criteria
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychometrics
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychophysiologic Disorders - psychology
Self Concept
Techniques and methods
Type A Personality
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Summary:The MMPI K scale is widely used to screen for invalid responses and to adjust substantive scale scores for defensiveness. In a normal volunteer sample, correlations of MMPI clinical scales and the Cook-Medley Hostility (HO) scale with self-reports and peer ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) were decreased rather than increased by K-correction. Similarly, in a medical sample, structured interview-based ratings of Potential for Hostility were better predicted by uncorrected HO scores than by K-corrected HO scores. Finally, in a prospective study of mortality among lawyers, uncorrected HO scores were a significant predictor of all-cause mortality; K-corrected scores were not. The data suggest that, under some circumstances, the K scale may measure substantive traits rather than defensiveness, and should be used and interpreted with caution. Its use is probably contraindicated for most research on psychiatrically normal subjects.
ISSN:0033-3174
1534-7796
DOI:10.1097/00006842-198901000-00006