Clinical correlates of high lie scale elevations among forensic patients

The MMPI Lie scale serves as an indicator of test validity, primarily intended to detect efforts by psychologically unsophisticated subjects to present themselves in an unrealistically positive fashion. The unexpected occurrence of Lie scale elevations among paranoid patients not considered to be unsophisticated or naive prompted previous researchers to speculate that the measure might have other interpretive utility. The current study examined the potential relationship between high Lie scores and paranoid psychopathology in a forensic population. All subjects who met the inclusion criteria, Lie greater than raw score of six and no clinical scale elevations, were found to have some type of psychotic disorder with prominent paranoid features. The possible implications of the findings for clinicians responsible for determinations of dangerousness resulting from mental illness were discussed.