Use of the MMPI–2's VRIN Scale with Severely Disturbed Populations: Consistent Responding May Be More Problematic than Inconsistent Responding

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Second Edition includes a new validity scale, the VRIN scale, intended to detect random responding. High scores are viewed as casting suspicion on the validity of the profile. For the present study, the authors evaluated some of the complexities of the VRIN scale including its interaction with the F scale. In particular, we tested two hypotheses. First is that among psychotically disturbed test takers, some inconsistent responding is an integral and expected mode of responding to a self-report measure. That is, in an inpatient psychiatric population increased confused responding (high VRIN score) is related in predictable ways to increased endorsement of pychotic scales and two-point codes and to increased psychotic diagnoses. The second hypothesis is a corollary—that the absence of inconsistency (low VRIN) in a protocol indicating acute distress (high F) may indicate that a respondent is being too consistent in presenting self as having severe difficulties. In this case, the rest of the protocol may be an exaggerated description of the clinical presentation. A sample of 521 psychiatric inpatients was used to evaluate these hypotheses. Some support for both hypotheses is reported. Further studies are recommended to evaluate the hypotheses.