MCMI Grossman Facet Scales Interpretation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'Interpersonally Paradoxical' facet appears within which MCMI-III personality scale?
- Masochistic (Self-Defeating)
- Negativistic (Passive-Aggressive) (Correct answer)
- Compulsive
- Depressive
Correct answer: Negativistic (Passive-Aggressive)
The Interpersonally Paradoxical facet is part of the Negativistic scale, capturing the erratic mix of resistance and compliance in social relationships.
Question 2: In treatment planning with MCMI-III Grossman Facets, a high score on the 'Cognitively Suspicious' facet of the Paranoid scale would most directly suggest addressing:
- Schema-focused work on abandonment fears
- Cognitive restructuring targeting distorted threat appraisals (Correct answer)
- Behavioral activation for social withdrawal
- Emotion regulation skills for impulsive outbursts
Correct answer: Cognitive restructuring targeting distorted threat appraisals
The Cognitively Suspicious facet targets the core cognitive distortion of threat misappraisal, making cognitive restructuring the most direct intervention.
Question 3: A clinician notices that a client's Schizoid scale is elevated but only the 'Expressively Impassive' facet is high while the interpersonal facet is moderate. This pattern most likely suggests:
- A full Schizoid personality disorder presentation
- Emotional blunting may be more prominent than social withdrawal (Correct answer)
- The scale elevation is a false positive and should be discarded
- The client is malingering emotional detachment
Correct answer: Emotional blunting may be more prominent than social withdrawal
Differential facet elevations indicate which dimension is most prominent; here, the behavioral/expressive dimension (emotional blunting) outweighs interpersonal withdrawal.
Question 4: The Grossman Facets for the Compulsive personality scale include a facet reflecting behavioral rigidity. Which facet name captures this?
- Behaviorally Disciplined (Correct answer)
- Expressively Constrained
- Interpersonally Respectful
- Cognitively Constricted
Correct answer: Behaviorally Disciplined
The Behaviorally Disciplined facet of the Compulsive scale reflects the rigid, rule-bound behavioral control characteristic of this personality style.
Question 5: When interpreting Grossman Facets, which BR score threshold indicates a facet is a 'prominent' feature of the personality style?
- BR ≥ 60
- BR ≥ 75
- BR ≥ 85 (Correct answer)
- BR ≥ 95
Correct answer: BR ≥ 85
A BR score of 85 or above indicates that the facet dimension is a prominent, diagnostically relevant feature of the personality style.
Question 6: A client with an elevated Avoidant scale has high scores on the 'Cognitively Distracted' facet but moderate scores on the behavioral facet. This profile suggests:
- The client is more troubled by ruminative, anxious thoughts than behavioral avoidance (Correct answer)
- Behavioral avoidance is the primary treatment target
- The profile is inconsistent and invalid
- The client meets full criteria for Schizoid rather than Avoidant personality
Correct answer: The client is more troubled by ruminative, anxious thoughts than behavioral avoidance
Relative elevation of the cognitive facet over the behavioral facet suggests that intrusive, anxious cognition is the more prominent feature in this individual's Avoidant presentation.
Question 7: Seth Grossman developed the Facet Scales as refinements to which version of the MCMI?
- MCMI-I
- MCMI-II
- MCMI-III (Correct answer)
- MCMI-IV
Correct answer: MCMI-III
Seth Grossman developed the Facet Scales as supplementary refinements introduced with the MCMI-III.
The 'Interpersonally Paradoxical' facet appears within which MCMI-III personality scale?