A subcultural change of MMPI norms in the 1960s due to adolescent role confusion and glamorization of alienation

Age and Birth Cohort Differences in Self-Esteem: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis

A meta-analytic review finds that college students' self-esteem increased substantially between 1968 and 1994 when measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Children's scores on the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) show a curvilinear pattern over time, decreasing from 1965 to 1979 and increasing from 1980 to 1993. Children's SEI scores are directly correlated with social statistics (e.g., divorce rate, unemployment) for the corresponding years. Analyses for age differences find that SEI scores decrease slightly during the transition from elementary school to junior high and then rise progressively through high school and college. RSE scores increase steadily with age. Results are discussed in terms of the antecedents of self-esteem, including social acceptance, competencies, and the culture of self-worth.

Shifts in Sex-Role after a Decade of Cultural Change

Traits and behaviors shift with cultural changes. During the past decade substantial changes have occurred in our society in the definition of appropriate sex-role behaviors. Consequently, a shift toward more androgynous sex-role behaviors, especially by individuals in their formative years, would be expected. The Bem Sex-role Inventory was administered to 98 women and 113 men at Brigham Young University and to 38 women and 84 men at the University of Tulsa. t tests between corresponding mean scores for the two universities were nonsignificant indicating the equivalence of those two samples of contemporary students. However, as expected, t tests showed that current students differed significantly from students a decade ago in that their scores represented an increase in androgynous sex-roles.

The aging MMPI: contemporary norms for contemporary teenagers

In 1937, research was initiated to develop a questionnaire that would aid physicians in evaluating the psychologic functioning of patients. The questionnaire quickly proved to be useful and became, as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the most widely used and thoroughly researched objective personality-assessment instrument. In 1959, the first computerized scoring and interpretative system for the MMPI was developed at the Mayo Clinic. During the 50 years that the MMPI has been used, however, our society has changed considerably. Therefore, a new normal contemporary reference sample of adults was obtained by Mayo Clinic investigators in 1983. Significant changes in response patterns were observed in comparison with the original norms, and new tables, based on normalized T scores rather than the linear transformation procedures of the past, were developed; these were incorporated into the Mayo Clinic MMPI scoring and interpretative system in 1984. Subsequently, a companion study of contemporary normal adolescents (691 girls and 624 boys) also showed significant changes in response patterns in comparison with the original norms. In addition, MMPI profiles from contemporary normal adolescents continue to differ from those of contemporary normal adults, similar to the differences noted between these two groups in the past. Data from these contemporary normal adolescents were used to develop new adolescent norms, which were incorporated into the Mayo Clinic scoring and interpretative system for the MMPI in January 1988.

MMPI clinical and content norms for a mixed psychiatric adolescent population

Presented a set of MMPI norms for a mixed psychiatric group of adolescents (N = 1022). Normative information is stratified according to five age categories and includes means and standard deviations for the validity, clinical, and 48 content scales. The usefulness of these norms for clinicians is discussed.

Changes in psychiatric admission MMPI profiles over a period of 15 to 20 years

An attempt was made to compare admission MMPI profiles of a matched sample of psychiatric inpatients over a 15- to 20-year period. For both males and females, significant decreases in MMPI indices of psychopathology occurred. Possible reasons for this decrease are presented.