Clinical personality assessment in personnel selection using the MMPI-2: A cross-cultural comparison

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is the most widely used and researched clinical personality assessment instrument in personnel selection. This instrumental study addresses the comparability of the MMPI-2 in assessing Spanish-speaking employees to the performance of English-speaking employees. A sample of 332 Puerto Rican power plant repairers and installers, who were administered the test in Spanish, were compared with 327 English speaking employees from the U.S mainland. The overall MMPI-2 performance of both groups of participants was highly similar and well within the normal range with most scales within the standard error of measurement. A few scales, such as the Lie scale (L), showed small differences with Hispanic clients scoring higher than the Anglos, a finding that has been reported in other studies. The MMPI-2 symptom scales for Hispanics are generally similar to the Anglo scores and do not require adjustments in interpretive strategies. In personnel settings where test defensiveness is common, interpreters need to assure that the applicant's L score is within the interpretive range.