The Temporal Reliability of the Maudsley Personality Inventory

Abstract

The Maudsley Personality Inventory (MPI) that purports to assess the two personality dimensions, extraversion-introversion (E-I) and neuroticism-normality (N-N), has been used extensively in recent research work and a number of published papers in somewhat different spheres bear witness to the use made of the questionnaire (Eysenck, 1956a; Coppen, 1958; Franks, 1957; Bartholomew, Franks and Marley, 1958). A clear description of its construction and use has been presented by Eysenck (1956b) and a comparison between it and other personality scales, as well as some criticisms of its construction, has been set out by Jensen (1958). The particular interest this questionnaire has evoked is due in part to the fact that it is one of the few personality inventories constructed and standardized this side of the Atlantic. The importance of a reliable questionnaire of this type is noted by Eysenck (1958) in his attempt to produce a shortened version of the MPI that will be of value in such work as market research.