The effect of impression management on correlations between Rorschach and MMPI-2 variables

The Rorschach and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) are two of the most widely used personality tests, yet most studies on the interrelationship of these two instruments have shown nonsignificant or significant but small correlations between conceptually related Rorschach and MMPI-2 variables. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of positive impression management on the correlations between Rorschach and MMPI-2 depressive- and psychotic-related variables.;Rorschach and MMPI-2 records were collected from a custody evaluation sample. It was inferred that the protocols of these participants would be characterized by some form of positive impression management, be it defensive or faking-good. Validity measures on the Rorschach and MMPI-2 confirmed this inference, with most MMPI-2 mean validity scores indicating faking-good/defensive response sets. Pearson product-moment correlations between related Rorschach and MMPI-2 variables were mostly nonsignificant. When correlations were statistically significant, they were small. As predicted, none of the samples' mean scores on MMPI-2 selected scales were elevated, whereas mean scores on the Rorschach variables indicated several areas of psychopathological functioning. This finding supported the hypothesis that the MMPI-2 is more susceptible than the Rorschach to the effects of impression management.;Contrary to the primary hypothesis of this study, partialling the effects of faking-good response sets as measured by selected MMPI-2 and Rorschach validity variables did not substantively increase the intercorrelations. This finding was interpreted as indicating that the selected MMPI-2 and Rorschach validity variables failed to filter effectively the effects of positive impression management on test scores.;Increased understanding of the differential effect of faking-good on Rorschach and MMPI-2 test scores benefits clinicians in accurately interpreting test scores when evaluations are conducted in the context of impression management. The fact that the effects of impression management on Rorschach and MMPI-2 tests may not be adequately controlled with the standard measures suggests the need to research and develop other methods for isolating and analyzing the mediational role of impression management on Rorschach - MMPI-2 correlations.