
Arguments also exist that this information is limited in that it categorizes the responder rather than providing data on an individual patient within a personalized spectrum of behavior. The RC scales were devised to provide a streamlined interpretation and less overlap with an increased focus on the growth in understanding within psychiatry over the past 70 years. Combinations of high-scoring categories represent distinct psychiatric constructs rather than the nebulous findings of the original clinical scales tying the patient to a specific diagnosis.


The Y-axis statistically standardizes the grading received on each scale in a range of T-scores from 0 to 120. 7 or ‘Pt’ for psychasthenia or obsessive-compulsive tendency.5 or ‘Mf’ for the continuum of masculinity-femininity.The 10 remaining scales known as ‘clinical scales’ are designed to measure for the presence of psychiatric syndromes, including: K to gauge ‘defensiveness,’ or evasion of stressful content.F or ‘frequency’ to gauge random response as well as the respondent’s exaggeration or downplaying of symptoms.L for ‘Lie’ to represent an attempt by the respondent to misrepresent themselves in a more positive light.? to represent the number of questions completed incorrectly, either with no attempt or both ‘true’ and ‘false’ selected.The first four ‘content scales’ judge the validity of the test attempt and include: The responses are then hand-scored and plotted on an X-Y graph a separate version is used for male and female respondents. The MMPI was developed in the 1930s and published through the University of Minnesota in 1942 by Stuart Hathaway and Charley McKinley using visitors of patients at the University of Minnesota hospital as a base sample in both theorizing constructs of psychiatric illness and fielding the instrument. Testing is administered through 567 true or false items using a booklet with an accompanying answer sheet. For psychiatric management, this aids in creating generalizable data relevant to a plethora of possible conditions.

The most common treatment application of the test by providers is establishing or reevaluating care for an ambiguous clinical picture. This data can be used to draw conclusions about the test taker’s psychopathy or to interpret psychological characteristics compared to the norm. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is the most common psychometric test devised to assess personality traits and psychopathology.
