Basic Personality Inventory

Douglas N. Jackson, Ph.D. © 1988, 1995, 1997

The Basic Personality Inventory (BPI) is an innovative, multiphasic personality assessment intended for use with clinical and normal populations to identify sources of maladjustment and personal strengths. The BPI can be used with both adolescents and adults, and is completed in half the time of other measures.

Applications

• Assessment of psychopathology in counseling and psychiatric practices
• Psychological evaluation as part of a conditional job offer for sensitive positions
• Assessment in juvenile and adult correctional facilities, and court referrals
• Research on alcoholism, eating disorders, and juvenile delinquency

Description

Unique Features

The BPI measures twelve (12) distinct psychological traits. Scale names were chosen to avoid potentially inaccurate diagnostic labels while emphasizing construct dimensions of psychopathology. The BPI makes use of sophisticated procedures to minimize susceptibility to the social desirability response bias. It is sensitive to the tendency to describe oneself in favorable ("fake-good") and unfavorable ("fake-bad") terms. The easy reading level makes it suitable for a variety of populations.

Extensive Interpretative Materials

In addition to the unique features inherent in the test, the BPI Manual offers a wealth of information to facilitate interpretation of the results.

• Detailed individual scale considerations based on the professional opinions of experienced psychologists
• Discussion of the detection of invalid cases and of the role of faking and motivated distortion
• Correlations with other well-established measures of psychopathology (for example, the MMPI)
• Empirically derived profiles representing specific symptoms of psychopathology (for example, delusions and alcoholism)

BPI Scales

• Hypochondriasis
• Depression
• Denial
• Interpersonal Problems
• Alienation
• Persecutory Ideas
• Anxiety
• Thinking Disorder
• Impulse Expression
• Social Introversion
• Self Depreciation
• Deviation

Norms

Separate adult (N = 1419) and adolescent (N = 2210) norms are reported in the manual. Adult norms are based on a North American sample using comparisons with U.S. census data.

Reliability

Internal consistency reliabilities for the BPI are routinely found to be acceptable. In one large psychiatric sample (N = 812), KR20 coefficients ranged between .66 and .86 (median = .76). A group of normal adults (N = 379) produced values ranging from .61 to .83 (median = .70), and a college sample (N = 52) gave coefficients ranging from .61 to .86 (median = .76). Test-retest reliabilities are similarly acceptable. Two studies (N = 123 and 168), each with retest intervals of one month, gave a combined range of .62 to .87 (median = .77). All told, these values indicate appreciable and stable reliabilities for BPI scale scores.

Validity

The BPI scales have demonstrated sizable correlations with other self-report measures intended to assess the same dimensions of psychopathology. For example, in a study of 235 substance abusers, BPI-Hypochondriasis correlated .73 with MMPI-Hypochondriasis. Other convergences were .55 for BPI-Depression and MMPI-Depression, .62 for BPI-Thinking Disorder and MMPI-Schizophrenia, and .58 for BPI-Social Introversion and MMPI-Social Introversion. BPI validities involving other clinical batteries (e.g., the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory) are similarly acceptable. Correlations between BPI scales and clinical ratings (by others) on like dimensions provide further support. In a study of 112 psychiatric patients, such correlations ranged from .32 to .51 (mean = .40), which compares favorably to an average correlation of .12 between the scales and ratings on irrelevant dimensions. Overall, such independent research strongly supports the BPI's validity.

Mail-in Scoring

The BPI Basic Report generated by the Mail-in Scoring service contains an interpretive validity paragraph, a profile of scores on 11 clinical scales and 1 critical item scale. In addition, the report features scale descriptions for high and low scorers, a list of critical items endorsed, and a summary of raw responses. Materials required for mail-in scoring include the test manual, one reusable test booklet, one machine scorable answer sheet and one coupon.

Software

Our SigmaSoft BPI for Windows software allows you to administer and score the Basic Personality Inventory on your computer. This software also makes it easy to input answers or scale scores from paper and pencil administrations and can import data scanned from special forms using an optical mark reader. The BPI for Windows software produces two types of reports, a Basic Report similar to that available from our Mail-in Scoring service, and a Data Report containing all of the scores found in the Basic Report in a format designed for use by other programs. In addition to the software itself, you will need to purchase enough coupons to pay for each report you wish to produce.

Report Type	Coupons Required
Basic	4
Data	2

 

Internet

The Basic Personality Inventory is available online through SigmaTesting.Com, our main testing site. SigmaTesting.Com gives the counselor complete control over administration and report handling.

Prices

Click here for detailed pricing information.