Underreporting on the MMPI-2-RF in a high-demand police officer selection context: an illustration

Positive response distortion is common in the high-demand context of employment selection. This study examined positive response distortion, in the form of underreporting, on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF). Police officer job applicants completed the MMPI-2-RF under high-demand and low-demand conditions, once during the preemployment psychological evaluation and once without contingencies after completing the police academy. Demand-related score elevations were evident on the Uncommon Virtues (L-r) and Adjustment Validity (K-r) scales. Underreporting was evident on the Higher-Order scales Emotional/Internalizing Dysfunction and Behavioral/Externalizing Dysfunction; 5 of 9 Restructured Clinical scales; 6 of 9 Internalizing scales; 3 of 4 Externalizing scales; and 3 of 5 Personality Psychopathology 5 scales. Regression analyses indicated that L-r predicted demand-related underreporting on behavioral/externalizing scales, and K-r predicted underreporting on emotional/internalizing scales. Select scales of the MMPI-2-RF are differentially associated with different types of underreporting among police officer applicants.