Does the MMPI control for lying and malingering?
Fake Bad” Scale In March 2008 a front page article in the Wall Street Journal exposed what it claimed to be the lack of scientific validity of the “fake bad” scale, which is used in courts as argument for malingering in injury litigation. According to the article two Florida judges barred use of the scale after special hearings on its scientific validity. The article reports that the scale was developed by psychologist Paul Lees-Haley, who works mainly for defendants (insurance companies etc.) in personal injury cases. The article reports that in 1991 Lees-Haley paid to have an article supportive of his scale published in Psychological Reports, which the Wall Street Journal described as “a small Montana-based medical journal.” The scale was introduced in MMPI after a review of the literature. This review was considered flawed by its critics because at least 10 of 19 studies reviewed were done by Lees-Haley or other insurance defense psychologists, while 21 other studies critical of the
