THE RORSCHACH AND MMPI - TOWARD A MORE SCIENTIFICALLY DIFFERENTIATED UNDERSTANDING OF CROSS-METHOD ASSESSMENT

Reasons for Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Ror schach disagreement at the nomothetic level are explored. Building on an understanding of measurement distinctions from other sciences, it i s proposed that the Rorschach and MMPI procedures are differentially s ensitive to unique manifestations of personality. By necessity, each m ethod is then also recognized as having a limited scope of effectivene ss, such that neither can provide a complete picture of personality in its full complexity. Drawing on the more extensive self-report litera ture, the idiosyncracies and limited scope of the self-report method a re documented. Finally, an ideographically rooted, cross-method, confi gural model is proposed for validation research in personality assessm ent. Several examples consistent with this approach are drawn from the assessment literature and discussed.