Effects of Ethnicity, Sex, and Age on MMPI Profiles

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Abstract
Planned comparisons of Mexican-American and Anglo-American profiles were made to probe previous inconsistent findings regarding source of scale differences. While cultural and socioeconomic factors have been demonstrated to affect this inventory, variables of ethnicity, sex, and age and their interactions have not been thoroughly assessed, due to variations in methodology, populations, and sample sizes. The applicability of MMPI to the Mexican-American population was also questioned. Variables of ethnicity, sex, and age, allowed to vary and function as independent measures through multiple analyses of variance, proved to be potent sources of variance. Cultural factors seem related to elevations for the Mexican-Americans on the Lie and Frequency scales. Effects attributable to sex alone occurred on the Hypochondriasis, Masculinity-Femininity, and Mania scales. Elevations on the Hypochondriasis, Psychopathic Deviate, and Paranoia scales were linked to effects of age. Elevations for Mexican-American women on the Hypochondriasis and Paranoia scales were ascribed to the interaction of ethnicity and sex. An interaction of sex and age occurred on the Correction scale, with women elevating the scale as a function of aging.