“Jewish” Names and MMPI Items
It was hypothesized that an MMPI scale could be developed that would discriminate between those bearing names usually considered Jewish and those bearing ( a ) names usually considered Welsh, Scottish, Irish, or Scandinavian; ( b ) or those bearing names neither German in origin nor manifestly Jewish. I t was further hypothesized that such items, if found, would mark those with such "Jewish" names as showing greater religious, social, and political liberalism, higher achievement motivation, higher anxiety level, with an urban predilection (as opposed to the rural), and greater concern for things intellectual and artistic. Fi-fty MMPI records of college males with names considered Jewish and 50 records of males with Welsh, Irish, Scottish, and Scandinavian names were subjected to item analysis. The women were similarly treated, with 50 in each group. Only those items were retained which went in a similar direction for men and women in the two contrasting groups. By this technique, a scale of 36 items was developed. This 36-item scale was next applied to a validation group of 600: ( 1 ) 100 males with names considered Jewish, ( 2 ) 100 similar females, ( 3 ) 100 males with names classified as Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and Scandinavian, ( 4 ) 100 analogous females, ( 5 ) 100 males with names neither patently Jewish nor German, ( 6 ) 100 similar females. "Jewish" females were discriminated from Group 4 (Mz = 16.42; M., = 15.47; 1 = 2.32; P = .02) and from Group 6 (M,; = 15.66; t = 1.98; P = .05) , where fewer restrictions obtained as to name origin. Male "Jews" showed significant mean differences when compared with both criterion groups ( M I = 16.51; MI< = 15.27; M, = 15.23; ts = 3.02, 2.84; both Ps = .01) . When both sexes were combined, the "Jewish" mean was 16.47; Groups 3 and 4, 15.37; Groups 5 and 6, 15.45; ts = 3.79, 3.40; both Ps = .001) . The 11 items from the 3G-itel11 scale which showed [he greatest discrimination value between "Jews" and their controls were now selected and re-applied to the entire validating group of 600. This shorter list was just as valid as the entire 36 items. Eight of these 11 items appear to fall under certain of the predicted rubrics: ( 1 ) greater religious liberalism, ( 2 ) urban orientation, ( 3 ) achievement level, and ( 4 ) manifest anxiety.' The two original hypotheses appear, therefore, to have some modicum of vindicq ,tlon. '