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Document Type

Research Paper

Abstract

Malingering of head injury symptoms has been a consistent problem for litigation and disability claims. This study assessed the differences between malingerers (fake bad group) and honest individuals (control group) based on the results of the Content, Basic, VRIN, and TRIN scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality lnventory-2. Forty-seven subjects participated in this study. Twenty-three were assigned to the fake bad condition and twenty-four were assigned to the honest condition. The age range was 18 to 24 years of age; 40% of the subjects were male and 60% were female. The honest group was given the standard MMPI-2 instructions; they were to answer the questions as honestly as possible. The fake bad group was instructed to take the test as if they had suffered a head injury, and their results would influence whether they were awarded in their disability claim. The Basic and Content Scales yielded T-score differences that were significant (p<.05) across the board, with the exception of the Cynicism and Antisocial Practices Content scales and the Masculinity-Femininity Basic Scale. The F-Scale was found to be invalid for the malingerers. The VRIN T-score mean for the honest condition was 49.3, and the TRIN T-score mean for the honest condition was 63.8. The VRIN T-score mean for the fake bad condition was 68.7, and the TRIN T-score mean was 60. It can be concluded that naive malingerers over-exaggerate and can get caught.

Publication Date

1999

Journal Title

Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference

Volume

3

Issue

1

First Page

79

Last Page

93

Copyright

©1999 by the University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Publisher

University of Northern Iowa

City

Cedar Falls, IA

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