Sex and Gender Bias in Self-Report Personality Disorder Inventories: Item Analyses of the MCMI-II, MMPI, and PDQ-R

Kathleen A. Lindsay, Thomas A. Widiger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

There has been considerable controversy and research regarding sex bias in the diagnosis of personality disorders, but little has involved self-report inventories. Thus this study investigated items from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (Millon, 1987), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Morey, Waugh, & Blashfield, 1985), and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised (Hyler & Rieder, 1987). Subjects (N= 189) completed the Histrionic, Dependent, Antisocial, and Narcissistic scales from these inventories, along with the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bern, 1974) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (Derogatis, 1977). Items were considered to evidence sex or gender bias if they (a) failed to correlate with dysfunction and (b) exhibited sex or gender role differences. At least 13 items evidenced sex bias (76 items using a more liberal threshold). The majority were from Narcissistic scales; few Histrionic items evidenced sex or gender bias. Implications with respect to sex-bias assessment and item construction are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-20
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Personality Assessment
Volume65
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1995

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
  • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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