Definitions of MMPI/MMPI-2: Basic Scales and Sub-scales - 1 - 5

Consider "High" to be T70 or more on the MMPI, and T65 or more on the MMPI-2. The higher a scale is, the more the more pathological descripters apply. Use the more benign descripters with moderately high scores. Consider "low" to be about T45 and below on the MMPI, and T40 and below on the MMPI-2.

The correlations I refer to are based on my study of 200 patients, forensic and selection clients.

1 (Hs) Hypochondriasis - Hathaway & McKinley (1940).
(MMPI 33 items, MMPI-2 32 items).

High: Preoccupation about one's health, a tendency to exaggerate physical symptoms, demanding, whiny, immature, little psychological mindedness, poor prognosis for any kind of treatment. As with any personality scale, it does not rule out organic disease. But nor does disease rule out the need to exaggerate and complain- which scale 1 measures very well.

Low: Healthy, insightful, optimistic.
Correlates mainly with Hysteria (3) .79.

2 (D) Depression - Hathaway & McKinley (1942). (MMPI 60 items, MMPI-2 57 items)

High: Clinical depression, pessimism, guilt feelings.

Low: Absence of depression, cheerful, competitive.

This is still the best scale of clinical depression.

Correlates .93 with Depression- Obvious, .90 with D1 Subjective Depression, .83 D4 Mental Dullness, and .77 with D5 Brooding.

DO Depression-Obvious - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 40 items, MMPI-2 39 items). High: Overly sensitive, somatic complaints, tension, worry poor concentration, withdrawn, sad.

Low: Healthy and outgoing.

Correlates .96 with D1 Subjective Depression, and .93 with Depression. DO is D without DS. That is, this scale is depression without any denial of symptoms. DO is the most pathological part of scale 2.

DS Depression-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 20 items, MMPI-2 18 items)

High: Denial of problems, the denial component of depression.

Low: Hostile, poor impulse control, somatic complaints.

Correlates -.60 with Wiggins Manifest Hostility, .50 with L, .49 with Repression, and .48 with K. This is not a measure of subtle depression, but rather a component of depression, i.e. denial. If depression or psychopathology is ruled out, a high score is an indication of healthy functioning.

D1 Subjective Depression - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 32 items, MMPI-2 32 items)

High: Feeling depressed, sad and pessimistic.

Low: Feeling cheerful and optimistic.

It's the same as Depression-Obvious (.96).

D2 Psychomotor Retardation - Harris & Lingoes (1955).
(MMPI 15 items, MMPI-2 14 items).

High: Withdrawn, lethargic and nonparticipative.

Low: Admits to aggressive feelings, active and involved.

Correlates .60 with Wiggins Social Maladjustment, and .56 with scale 0, Social Introversion.

D3 Physical Malfunctioning - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 11 items, MMPI-2 11 items)

High: Preoccupation and complaints about poor health.

Low: Indicates good physical health.

Correlates .62 with both Wiggins Poor Health and Organic Symptoms, and .61 with scale 1- Hypochondriasis. The hypochondriacal-somatizing component of depression.

D4 Mental Dullness - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 15 items, MMPI-2 15 items).

High: Tired, tense, poor concentration and memory, sad and low self-esteem.

Low: Feels relaxed, interested in life and self-confident.

This scale can be the only elevated scale of depression in a "masked" depression. These people complain of trouble concentrating on school work or on the job. Correlates .92 with Depression-Obvious, .86 with Sc4 Lack of Ego Mastery- Conative, and .81 with Sc3 Lack of Ego Mastery- Cognitive.

D5 Brooding - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 10 items, MMPI-2 10 items).

High: Ruminative, lethargic, overly sensitive and fears losing control of thought processes.

Low: Feels happy and that life is worthwhile, energetic and self-confident.

Correlates .91 with Subjective Depression, .90 with Wiggins Depression, and .86 Pd5 Self-Aleination.

3 (Hy) Hysteria - Hathaway & McKinley (1944). (MMPI 60 items, MMPI-2 60 items).

High: Tendency to convert conflicts concerning dependency, sexuality or aggression, and express them as physical symptoms. Psychologically immature, self-centered, narcissistic, and insightless. Superficially friendly and naive but manipulative.

Low: Overly constrictive, conventional and distrusting.

An excellant scale that measures somatization, conversion reactions, denial, naivete and manipulativeness. Correlates .79 with Hypochondriasis, .60 with Hysteria-Obvious, .56 with Hy4 .

Somatic Complaints, .51 with Hysteria-Subtle, and .49 with Paranoia-Subtle.

HyO Hysteria-Obvious - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 32 items, MMPI-2 32 items)

High: Physical complaints, poor concentration, lethargy, tension, sexual anxiety and depression.

Low: Healthy, little anxiety and depression, happy home life and few if any sexual fears.

Correlates .89 with Hy3 Lassitude-Malaise, .86 with Depression-Obvious, and .86 with Wiggins Organic Symptoms. The most pathological parts of scale 3.

HyS Hysteria-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 28 items, MMPI-2 28 items)

High: Naively trusting, socially outgoing, denies aggressive impulses, the repression component to the hysteria complex.

Low: Hostile and distrusting.

Correlates .87 with Hy2 Need for Affection, and .81 with K. As with Depression-Subtle, Hysteria-Subtle does not measure Hysteria, but defensiveness. Also as with D-S, a high Hy-S in the absence of psychopathology is a sign of healthy functioning, not defensiveness.

Hy1 Denial of Social Anxiety - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 6 items, MMPI-2 6 items).

High: Extroverted, talkative and not easily influenced by customs or conventions.

Low: Introverted and highly influenced by social standards.

Correlates .90 with Pd3 Social Imperturbability, -.79 with scale 0 Social Introversion, .74 with Hysteria-Subtle, and .64 with Ma3 Imperturbability. Hy1, Pd3 and Ma3 all are similiar components of psychopathology. They represent the component of narcissistic insensitivity in Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate and Hypomania. Outside the context of psychopathology, they simply mean extroversion.

Hy2 Need for Affection - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 12 items, MMPI-2 12 items)

High: Naively optimistic and trusting, denies hostile feelings, strong need for attention and affection from others, and avoids confrontations.

Low: Critical and suspicious of others, and admits to hostile and vengeful feelings.

Correlates .87 with Hysteria-Subtle, -.74 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts, -.73 with Prejudice, and .72 with Pa3 Naivete. Mental health professionals often have as their highest MMPI scales moderate elevations in Hysteria and Paranoia. Their 36/63 code is often the cause of much speculation. However, the elevations are usually due to Hy2 and Pa3, which assess trust and optimissism in normals. We would expect high trust and optimissism in mental health professionals. Within the context of psychopathology, it's the idealizing side of splitting. Hysterics and Paranoids can highly idealize a person. Their intimacies can be very intense and passionate. However, at the slightest disruption of the idealized self-object merger fantasy (the discovery that the other person is not controllable and has independent thoughts and feelings), the idealization flips over to devaluation. These scales are based on a person's beliefs and not object constancy or empathy.

Hy3 Lassitude-Malaise - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 15 items, MMPI-2 15 items).

High: Vague somatic complaints poor concentration, poor appetite, feels depressed and an unhappy home environment.

Low: Good health, energetic and satisfied.

Correlates .89 with Hysteria-Obvious, and .83 with Depression. Hy3 is the depressive underbelly of Hysteria. The social extroversion of Hy1 is the superficial social flight from Hy-3 depression. The Hysteric would agree with Smokey Robinson, "I've got to dance to keep from crying."

Hy4 Somatic Complaints - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 17 items, MMPI-2 17 items).

High: Repression and conversion of affect, nausea, fainting spells, pain, and denies hostility.

Low: Denies above physical complaints, and admits to hostile feelings.

Correlates .85 with Wiggins Organic Symptoms, .78 with Hysteria-Obvious, and .71 with Hypochondriasis. This is the somatiform component of Hysteria. The high correlation with Organic Symptoms is associated with pseudoneurological symptoms.

Hy5 Inhibition of Aggression - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 7 items, MMPI-2 7 items).

High: Decisive, sensitive, and denies aggressive impulses.

Low: Admits to hostile impulses, indecisive and insensitive.

Correlates .56 with Hysteria-Subtle, .50 with K, and -.46 with Wiggins Authority Conflicts. Hysterics say that they do not get angry. They just drive you crazy with their passive-aggressiveness.

4(Pd) Psychopathic Deviate - Hathaway & McKinley (1944). (MMPI 50 items, MMPI-2 50 items).

High: Poor impulse control, disidentification with societal standards, authority conflicts, marital and family conflicts, inconsiderate, narcissistic, poor judgment, extroverted, self-confident, hostile and externalizes blame.

Low: Overly conventional and conforming, passive, trusting and non-competitive.

Correlates .72 with Pd-O, .63 with Pd5 Self Alienation, .63 with Schizophrenia, and .60 with D1 Subjective Depression. Pd is a great characterological scale of narcissism, externalization of blame, exploitiveness, and hostility. The subscales for Pd are very important in understanding elevations in Pd. Elevations in Pd can be due to a hostile, exploitive and truly psychopathic mentality, or an extroverted normal going through a divorce, or a normal teenager. If Pd-O is greater than Pd, then the more pathological interpretaions should be used. If Pd-S is higher than Pd, then the more benign interpretations should be used. It is helpful to also look at the content scales of anger, authority problems, family problems etc. to help understand elevations in Pd.

PdO Psychopathic Deviate-Obvious - Weiner (1948).(MMPI 28 items, MMPI-2 28 items)

High: Feels misunderstood, poor concentration, feels rejected by family, acting out, may have used alcohol excessively, depression, and sexual conflicts.

Low: Healthy relationships, denies alcohol abuse and does not express regret about past misdeeds.

Correlates .89 with Pd5 Self Alienation, .83 with Wiggins Depression, and .82 with Dependency. Pd-O is more pathological than Pd, while Pd-S, Pd1 and Pd2 are less pathological than Pd.

PdS Psychopathic Deviate-Subtle - Weiner (1948). (MMPI 22 items, MMPI-2 22 items)

High: Social imperturbability, family conflicts, difficulties with intimate relationships and impulsive.

Low: Conforming, compliant and shy.

Correlates .56 with Pd, .38 with Hy-S, and .37 with Hy1 Denial of Social Anxiety. A rather independent subtle scale. These people function very well, but tend to have marital problems due to the abuse or neglect they experienced within their family of orgin.

Pd1 Familial Discord - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 11 items, MMPI-2 9 items).

High: Home is unpleasant, lacking in love and understanding.

Low: Family situation is loving and understanding without being overcontrolling or domineering.

Correlates .86 with Wiggins Family Problems, and .69 with Sc1 Social Alienation. An important scale, since many people have elevations in Pd due to situational stress because of problems with parents or spouses (the scale does not differentiate between problems from the family of origin or the family of procreation). The Wiggins Family Problems scale is much better than Pd1, and so may the new Family Problems content scale be better at measuring family distress. Those with high scores were often the scapegoats from their families of origin, and they may have an unconscious need to repeat feeling or being victimized in other intimate relationships.

Pd2 Authority Conflict - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 11 items, MMPI-2 8 items).

High: Resentful of standards, opinionated and rebellious.

Low: Conforming and accepting of authority and not overly opinionated.

Correlates -.44 with Repression, and only .40 with Pd. This is not really an authority conflict scale. Wiggins Authority Conflicts scale is a much better scale. The two are not even correlated. The scale should be called "Resentment".

Pd3 Social Imperturbability - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 12 items, MMPI-2 6 items).

High: Denial of social anxiety, exhibitionistic, loquacious and opinionated.

Low: Social anxiety, shy and conforming.

Correlates .90 with Hy1 Denial of Social Anxiety, -.86 with Wiggins Social Maladjustment, -.83 with Si Social Introversion, and .65 with Ma3 Social Imperturbability. This is the social insensitivity in Pd. These people can be described as friendly, but you wouldn't share your feelings with them. Hy1, Pd3 and Ma3 assess insensitivity within the context of psychopathology, and simply extroversion in normals.

Pd4 (Pd4a) Social Alienation - Harris & Lingoes (1955). (MMPI 18 items, MMPI-2 13 items).

High: Alienated, estranged, feels misunderstood, unhappy and unloved, externalizes blame, overly sensitive, self-centered and inconsiderate.

Low: Has a sense of belonging, sees significant others as loving and understanding, and has satisfying social relationships.

Correlates .81 with Pd5, .79 with Pd-O, .79 with D5 Brooding, .78 with Welsh Anxiety, and .77 with Wiggins Depression. Pd4 is the second most pathological Harris and Lingoes subscale for Pd, after Pd5.

Pd5 (Pd4b) Self-Alienation - Harris & Lingoes (1955).(MMPI 18, MMPI-2 12).

High: Depressed, difficulty in concentrating, guilt feelings and remorse over past deeds, and may use alcohol excessively.

Low: Able to settle down to a comfortable happy life.

Correlates .89 with Pd-O, .87 with Wiggins Depression, .87 with D5 Brooding, .86 with Welsh Anxiety, and .84 with D1 Subjective Depression. This is the most pathological Harris and Lingoes subscale of Pd. "Self-Alienation" is a confusing label. It should be called, "Brooding and apathy".

5 Mf Masculinity-Femininity - Hathaway and McKinley (1956). (MMPI 60 items, MMPI-2 56 items).

High:(For Males) Passive, aesthetic and artistic interests, intelligent, sensitive to others, tolerant and has good controls. If very high - possible sex role identity problems.

(For Females) Rejects the traditional female role, masculine interests in work and hobbies, and may be aggressive and dominating.

Low: (For Males) Limited intellectual ability, narrow range of interests, practical, aggressive, and has traditional male interests.

(For Females) Passive, submissive, constricted and sensitive. Not correlated to any scales of psychopathology. Masculinity-Femininity reliably comes up as an independent factor of MMPI items. Mf is only slightly correlated to the new Gender Role scales on the MMPI-2. This is the weakest basic MMPI/MMPI-2 scale. Highly educated sensitive males usually score high. The new MMPI-2 norms reflect the changes in traditional sex roles since 1940. The female norm did not change, but the male norm is a whole standard deviation higher in the MMPI-2 as compared to the MMPI mean. The MMPI-2 sample is also very highly educated. What ever the reason, on the MMPI-2, Ph.D. psychologists will look less like latent homosexuals. The best part of this scale is the subscale Mf1 Narcissism-Hypersensitivity which has been omitted on the MMPI-2.

Mf1 Narcissism-Hypersensitivity - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 18 items).

High:Extremely sensitive, easily hurt, self-centered, narcissistic, lacks self-confidence, concerned over sexual matters, and anger towards family.

Low: Self-confident, not overly sensitive, denies hostile feeling towards family, and sees others as sensitive and reasonable.

Correlates .77 with Dependency, .75 with Welsh Anxiety, .73 with Wiggins Poor Morale, .71 with Wiggins Depression, and .70 with Pd4 Social Alienation. One of my favorite scales. It can be the only scale elevated in a subtle profile. It assesses the oversensitivity aspect of narcissism.

Mf2 Stereotypic Feminine Interests - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 14 items).

High: Traditional feminine interests and activities (i.e., nursing, poetry, growing plants, cooking, etc.).

Low: Dislike of traditional feminine interests.

Correlates .86 with Wiggins Feminine Interests. I have no interest in interest scales unless they are part of a well developed interest inventory.

Mf3 Denial of Stereotypic Masculine Interests - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 8 items).

High: Dislike of stereotypic masculine occupations, interests and hobbies (e.g., military, hunting, reading mechanics magazines, etc.)

Low: Traditional masculine interests and occupations. Another "so what" scale.

Mf4 Heterosexual Discomfort-Passivity - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 4 items).

High: Discomfort talking about sex, passive, and attracted to members of one's own sex.

Low: Comfortable talking about sex, assertive, and denies being attracted to members of one's own sex.

No meaningful correlations with other scales. This is the only Mf subscale that gets to sexual pathology. Unfortunately, it is too much a mixed bag of issues, from sexual uptightness to homosexuality, to be useful.

Mf5 Introspective-Critical - Serkownek (1975).(MMPI 7 items).

High: Introverted, shy, lacks self-confidence, and rejects religious fundamentalism.

Low: Extroverted, self-confident, and accepts some fundamentalist religious beliefs.

Correlates -.64 Wiggins Religious Fundamentalism. This correlation is based on the rejection of the fundamemtalism items. I wonder about the validity of this scale. Typical of factor analysis, the first factor Mf1 is the best scale, and the last few scales are a jumble of loosely related items that were left over. The runts of the factor analysis.

Mf6 Socially Retiring - Serkownek (1975). (MMPI 9 items).

High: Introverted, unassertive, and avoids excitement or risk.

Low: Extroverted, exhibitionistic, argumentative, and seeks out excitement or risk.

Correlates .46 with Si3 (Serkownek) Staid-personal rigidity. Not a very good scale of social introversion.

Martin and Finn (Martin, 1993) factor analyzed the MMPI-2 Mf scale, resulting in 7 factors.

Mf1 Denial of Stereotypic Masculine Interests (11 items); measures a lack of interest in stereotypic masculine activities. Not very clinically useful.

Mf2 Hypersensitivity-Anxiety (13 items); measures worry and sensitivity, similar to Serkownek's Mf1. This scale is the only subscale of Mf that is clinically useful. It is the pathology component of Mf.

Mf3 Stereotypical Feminine Interests (6 items); measures stereotypic feminine activities. Not very clinically useful.

Mf4 Low Cynicism (6 items); measures a lack of suspiciousness about the motives of others.

Mf5 Aesthetic Interests (5 items); measures interest in the arts and literature. High scorers may do well with insight therapy.

Mf6 Feminine Gender Identity (5 items); measures the wish to be and act female. May be useful in assessing gender identity issues.

Mf7 Restraint from Loud and Aggressive Interests and Behaviors (6 items); not fun at parties, but good at museums, especially if Mf5 is also elevated.

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