Racial influences on intelligence and personality measures of people who commit murder

Examined a sample of murderers (N = 137) (91 white and 46 black offenders) for racial differences on intelligence (both verbal and nonverbal) and personality measures. Black offenders scored significantly lower than white offenders on both verbal and nonverbal intelligence as well as on the SI scale of the MMPI. However, they scored higher on the MA scale. Overall, the intelligence measures discriminated better between black and white offenders than personality measures. Implications for future research and efforts to develop new norms for the MMPI are discussed.