Relationships of personality disorders with MMPI-2 malingering, defensiveness, and inconsistent response scales among forensic examinees.

MMPI-2 validity scales were correlated with MCMI-II personality disorder scales to examine relationships between response styles and personality disorders in a sample of 84 criminal defendants. 14 MMPI-2 validity scales were significantly correlated with 13 personality disorders. All of the personality disorder scales were significantly correlated with at least one validity measure and 11 of 13 personality disorder scales were significantly correlated with two or more MMPI-2 validity scales. While a personality disorder diagnosis may have a general effect on validity scales, relationships theoretically consistent with a given personality disorder were also found. This means that response set appears to be a manifestation of personality, and as such, examiners should expect symptom amplification or minimization or inconsistent responses, based on an individual's personality. Subsequently, forensic examiners are encouraged to evaluate the relationships between MCMI-II personality disorders and MMPI-2 validity scales to avoid misjudging MMPI-2 profiles as invalid when they accurately reflect manifestations of personality.