Atypical Emotions in Relationships as Correlates of the MMPI

Abstract

College student subjects (N = 77) were assessed for atypical emotional experience in each of 10 relationships, using the Situation Affect Test (Harrison, 1986). Atypical emotions in each relationship were assessed by 17 imaginary situations in which subjects' reported feelings were compared with normative expectations. The 10 relationship scores were correlated with 15 standard scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Thirty-two of the 150 resulting correlations were statistically significant (p < .05), a number shown to be well above chance expectations. Stepdown analyses showed that the Si, F, Sc, and Ma scores were positively related to atypical feelings in the 10 relationships; in contrast, the Es, Mf, and Lie scores were related to typical feelings. Atypical feelings in relation to one's self, sweetheart, prospective children, siblings, and mother were correlated (p < .05) with the MMPI scales. It is suggested that these results can be used to supplement standard MMPI interpretation in specifying possibly difficult or atypical relationships.