Gender Differences on the MMPI Across American and Korean Adult and Adolescent Normative Samples

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether gender differences on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2; Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Adolescent (MMPI–A; Butcher et al., 1992) items are comparable across 2 distinctive cultural samples: Americans and Koreans. Using large, representative adult and adolescent samples from both cultures, we found that the American samples were associated with a higher proportion of items with gender differences than the Korean samples. The American adult sample produced gender differences on a higher proportion of items than did the American adolescent sample, but no such age difference was found between the Korean samples. Despite these differences between cultures and between age groups, content dimensions underlying items with gender differences were very similar across cultures and age groups, centering on stereotypical gender interests, behaviors, and emotions.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Andrew Cox, Subhadra Dutta, Annalyn Jacob, Holly Ketterer, Sangil Kwon, Hina Pant, and Eric O’Rourke for their help in labeling factors.

Hyung In Park is now at Chonnam National University. Christopher Joles is now at Nationstar Mortgage, Lewisville, TX.