Social desirability, non‐response bias and reliability in a long self‐report measure: illustrations from the MMPI‐2 administered to Brunei student teachers

Abstract

The survey investigated the problems of social desirability (SD), non‐response bias (NRB) and reliability in the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – Revised (MMPI‐2) self‐report inventory administered to Brunei student teachers. Bruneians scored higher on all the validity scales than the normative US sample, thereby threatening the internal validity of the study. Of the three validity scales that assess various forms of SD, only the F scale was reliable and its mean score was in the clinical range. In addition, seven of the ten clinical scales had poor reliability. Although Brunei males scored much higher on the K scale than females, both mean scores were below the critical region. Protocols for two respondents with many missing values indicated that the study’s external validity was vulnerable to NRB effects. Altogether SD, NRB and low reliability had potential to undermine and depress the overall validity of the MMPI‐2 and caution the value of using it ‘as is’ in Brunei.

Keywords:

• social desirability
• non‐response bias
• reliability
• validity
• counselling
• student teachers