Katharine
In memory of Travis Alexander-WS member 3/30/2013
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2013
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- 446
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How do the tests compensate for people that lie when answering the questions? She is a known liar, the test is given, but how do the graders or whatever they are called, take that into consideration....or they don't and just think she is telling the truth and give their report. The test would be invalid if she lied?! Please explain. Thanks in advance
I personally cannot answer this question and it sure is a very valid question, but this was taken from the article:
The MMPI-2 is not a valid measure of a person’s psychopathology or behavior if the person taking the test does so in a way that is not honest or frank. A person may decide, for whatever reasons, to overreport (exaggerate) or underreport (deny) the behavior being assessed by the test.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) contains four validity scales designed to measure a person’s test-taking attitude and approach to the test:
Lie (L) – The Lie scale is intended to identify individuals who are deliberately trying to avoid answering the MMPI honestly and in a frank manner. The scale measures attitudes and practices that are culturally laudable, but rarely found in most people. In other words, people who make these items are often trying to make themselves look like a better person than they really are (or that anybody is). The scale contains 15 items.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/minnesota-multiphasic-personality-inventory-mmpi/0005959