Ability of Alcoholics to Escape Detection by the MMPI

The ability of two groups of respondents to dissimulate successfully on special alcohol scales and validity measures of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was evaluated. Forty White male alcohol-dependent inpatients and 40 matched nonalcoholic general medical patients each completed the MMPI twice: once under instructions to answer honestly and once under dissimulation instructions. Results showed that, under honest conditions, any of six special alcohol scales had a hit rate of about 80%. In the dissimulation condition, both alcoholic and medical patients were capable of producing significantly more benign profiles on both the general clinical and the special alcohol scales. However, the Positive Malingering (Mp) and Social Desirability (Sd) dissimulation scales were able to detect approximately 80% of the deceptive profiles, whereas others were somewhat less accurate. When the best dissimulation scale (Mp) and the best special alcohol scale (MacAndrew; MAC) were used in this study, only 3 of 40 dissimulating alcoholics were not identified as either alcoholics or dissimulators. Implications for use of the MMPI as an instrument for alcoholism screening are discussed.