MMPI Content and Supplemental Scales 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The MMPI-2 Type A Behavior (TPA) content scale was designed to measure:
- Blood type A personality correlates in medical patients
- Hard-driving, competitive, and time-pressured behavior patterns (Correct answer)
- Anxious attachment style in adult relationships
- Achievement motivation in academic settings
Correct answer: Hard-driving, competitive, and time-pressured behavior patterns
TPA assesses the classic Type A behavioral pattern including impatience, competitiveness, irritability, and work preoccupation.
Question 2: On the MMPI-2, the Fears (FRS) content scale elevation indicates:
- Generalized anxiety without specific triggers
- Multiple specific phobias and excessive fears (Correct answer)
- Fear of social evaluation and embarrassment
- Traumatic fear response to a single event
Correct answer: Multiple specific phobias and excessive fears
FRS identifies individuals who endorse many specific fear items including animals, blood, closed spaces, and other common phobias.
Question 3: The Repression (R) supplemental scale on the MMPI-2 is characterized by:
- Active suppression of traumatic memories
- Inhibition of emotional expression and denial of psychological distress (Correct answer)
- Repressed anger that causes somatic symptoms
- Unconscious defense mechanisms assessed via projective items
Correct answer: Inhibition of emotional expression and denial of psychological distress
High R scorers present as emotionally controlled, conventional, and unwilling to acknowledge psychological difficulties.
Question 4: Which MMPI-2 supplemental scale assesses traditional attitudes and gender role conformity?
- Masculine Gender Role (GM)
- Gender Role - Masculine/Feminine (GM/GF) (Correct answer)
- Social Responsibility (Re)
- College Maladjustment (Mt)
Correct answer: Gender Role - Masculine/Feminine (GM/GF)
The GM and GF supplemental scales assess endorsement of traditional masculine and feminine gender role characteristics respectively.
Question 5: A high score on the MMPI-2 Social Discomfort (SOD) content scale most strongly suggests:
- Shyness, introversion, and dislike of social situations (Correct answer)
- Social anxiety with fear of negative evaluation
- Antisocial avoidance due to distrust of others
- Post-traumatic avoidance of interpersonal contact
Correct answer: Shyness, introversion, and dislike of social situations
SOD reflects genuine discomfort in social settings and preference for solitude rather than fear of judgment per se.
Question 6: The MMPI-2 Obsessiveness (OBS) content scale elevation is most consistent with which symptom presentation?
- Compulsive checking and contamination rituals
- Excessive worry, indecisiveness, and rumination (Correct answer)
- Intrusive violent or sexual obsessive thoughts
- Hoarding behaviors and difficulty discarding items
Correct answer: Excessive worry, indecisiveness, and rumination
OBS primarily captures excessive rumination, worry, difficulty making decisions, and feeling overwhelmed by thoughts.
Question 7: The Addiction Acknowledgment Scale (AAS) on the MMPI-2 differs from MAC-R in that AAS:
- Measures personality risk factors for addiction without direct admission
- Contains items that directly acknowledge substance abuse problems (Correct answer)
- Was developed using alcoholic criterion groups only
- Detects addiction through subtle, non-obvious item content
Correct answer: Contains items that directly acknowledge substance abuse problems
AAS items are face-valid and directly ask about substance use, making it a measure of acknowledged rather than inferred addiction.
MMPI Content and Supplemental Scales 4
The MMPI-2 Type A Behavior (TPA) content scale was designed to measure: