Faculty Articles

Facing Cultural Challenges in Personality Testing.

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

PsycCRITIQUES

ISSN

1554-0138

Publication Date

2007

Abstract

Reviews the book, Assessing Hispanic clients using the MMPI-2 and the MMPI-A by James N. Butcher, José Cabiya, Emilia Lucio, and Maria Garrido (see record 2007-07633-000). The authors highlight important factors that demand special attention when one is assessing Hispanic clients. The book attempts to establish the usefulness and application of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-2 and MMPI-A in the United States and other Latin American countries. The reviewers believe the book provides an excellent overview of important test construction characteristics affecting translations of the MMPI. The first chapters focus on specific problems encountered when the MMPI is adapted and translated into other cultures. The information regarding validity and reliability of cultural content of the MMPI-2 is a salient strength of the book. Similar findings and recommendations for the adolescent population are also apparent in the second half of the book. While the reviewers agree that the book clearly addresses the cultural and linguistic issues involved in translation, they believe that the question of whether translation should be done at all is ignored. They ask whether or not more progress would ultimately be made if one started from scratch by developing items in the same manner as the original MMPI for these cultural groups. The reviewers also express concern about the authors' interpretations of specific test items, in that test score differences may be due to differences between different Hispanic cultures. An additional area that needs strengthening in the opinion of the reviewers is the presentation of adolescent research findings performed across multiple Latin American countries. Nevertheless, Golden and Figueroa think that the book excels in communicating the fact that careful analysis and interpretation are needed by clinicians and researchers when assessing the diversity that exists within the Hispanic culture, and recommend it on that basis.

DOI

10.1037/a0009604

Volume

52

Issue

41

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