Comparing personality profiles of law enforcement officers and criminals based on the MMPI and MMPI-2.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of law enforcement officers with those of criminals. The law enforcement personnel group consisted of 31 police officers including those being evaluated for a promotion and consisted mainly of local department personnel; however, there were some profiles used which came from state and sheriff's agencies. The criminal group consisted of 30 individuals who had been convicted of a felony. Both groups consisted of mostly male profiles; each group had one female profile. Both groups ranged from 18 to 40 years of age. A multivariate analysis of variance was computed to compare personality profiles. The multivariate results were significant indicating that the groups were not similar. The univariate results indicated significant differences on 9 of the 13 scales. These scales are scales F, K, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and o. Similarities between the two groups were found on Scales L, 1, 3, and 5. While the literature suggests that law enforcement groups might have very similar characteristics to criminals, the results of this study do not indicate that police are similar to the classic "antisocial" criminal. However, the data indicate that there are some similarities between the two groups.