Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2026

Use of a Psychophysiological Script-driven Imagery Experiment to Study Trauma-related Dissociation in Borderline Personality Disorder
Published on: March 8, 2018
Malingering as a categorical or dimensional construct: the latent structure of feigned psychopathology as measured by
Glenn D Walters1, Richard Rogers, David T R Berry
1Psychology Services, Federal Correctional Institution-Schuylkill, Minersville, Pennsylvania 17954-0700, USA. gwalters@bop.gov
Abstract:
The 6 nonoverlapping primary scales of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) were subjected to taxometric analysis in a group of 1,211 criminal and civil examinees in order to investigate the latent structure of feigned psychopathology. Both taxometric procedures used in this study, mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC) and maximum covariance (MAXCOV), produced dimensional results. A subgroup of participants (n = 711) with valid Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) protocols were included in a second round of analyses in which the 6 nonoverlapping primary scales of the SIRS and the Infrequency (F), Infrequency-Psychopathology (Fp), and Dissimulation (Ds) scales of the MMPI-2 served as indicators. Again, the results were more consistent with dimensional latent structure than with taxonic latent structure. On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that feigned psychopathology forms a dimension (levels of fabrication or exaggeration) rather than a taxon (malingering-honest dichotomy) and that malingering is a quantitative distinction rather than a qualitative one. The theoretical and clinical practice implications of these findings are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Report Tests of Personality
Strategies of Self-Presentation III: Self-Monitoring
Dark Triad and Person Perception
Understanding Deception
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)