MMPI item subtlety research: current issues and directions

This article examines the methodology from recent item subtlety research with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The Christian, Burkhart, and Gynther (1978) ratings, used in this research, define item subtlety as the perceived degree of psychopathology associated with individual items rather than specifying subtlety in relation to qualities characteristic of individual scales. Consequently, the ratings often violate commonsense notions of subtlety, and the results of research with the ratings are difficult to interpret. Studies with the ratings also contain procedural defects which limit generality. It is recommended that future investigators give greater consideration to the operational definition of item subtlety, to the intended applications of the MMPI, and to item properties other than simple correlations with criteria that can enhance the predictive and discriminative powers of MMPI scales.