As Escalas de Validade do MMPI-2-RF na Deteção de Relato-Minimizado e Relato-Exagerado

Specific response attitudes towards a test may affect, or even prevent, the interpretation of its results. Under-reporting and over-reporting attitudes bring about some relevant issues in psychological assessment, and research in this area is generally based upon simulation designs, carrying several limitations. This study analyzed samples from "real" contexts, with different expected prevalence of specific response attitudes, aiming to identify their frequency and subtypes, as well as their impact on clinical and personality substantive scales. With the MMPI-2-RF, 1566 participants of Community, Organizational, and Clinical samples were assessed. The Clinical sample showed a marked tendency for an over-report attitude (40%) and a low tendency for under-reporting; the Organizational sample did not present over-reporting and had the highest values of under-reporting (55%); the Community sample presented inexpressive values of both under-reporting (5%) and over-reporting (8%). These response attitudes showed to have a significant and generalized impact on the substantive scales assessing clinical symptoms, behavior tendencies, and personality traits. Different subtypes of under-reporting and over-reporting attitudes were explored, in the Organizational and Clinical samples, respectively. Relevant implications for psychological assessment in these contexts are discussed.