Faking Bad and Faking Good by College Students on the Korean MMPI–2

Abstract

Recent studies that have investigated the utility of MMPI–2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) validity scales have shown the promising efficacy of these scales in detecting faking-good and faking-bad responses. However, existing research is confined to North America, and work in other cultures is still lacking. The purpose of this study lies in exploring the efficacy of MMPI–2 validity scales in South Korea. The F, Fb, F – K, and F(p) scales of the Korean MMPI–2 (Han, 1993) were able successfully to classify faking-bad participants. The L, K, and S scales of the Korean MMPI–2 were able successfully to classify faking-good participants. Overall, the results of this study suggest that the Korean MMPI–2 works well in discriminating dishonest responses, thus confirming the applicability of the MMPI–2 validity scales in a Korean context.