Validity of the MMPI Subtle Items

Abstract

This article presents a review and critique of research on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) subtle items in regard to their validity as measures of their scales' characteristics. The main categories of focus are their convergent and discriminative validity, the paradoxical effect, and the issue of whether removing these items would improve MMPI validity. Important problems in the methodologies are noted and discussed in some detail. These methodological concerns and the conflicting results across studies obscure firm conclusions on the validity of the subtle items, although strong support is lacking. However, more evidence is needed before deciding to remove these items from the MMPI; therefore, this article provides recommendations for future research.