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MMPI Characteristics of Professional Prostitutes: A Cross-Cultural Replication Dirk De Schampheleire Published online: 22 Jun 2011.

To cite this article: Dirk De Schampheleire (1990) MMPI Characteristics of Professional Prostitutes: A Cross-Cultural Replication, Journal of Personality Assessment, 54:1-2, 343-350 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223891.1990.9673998

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PI Characteristics sf Professional Prostitutes: A Cross-Cultural Replication

The personality characterisrics of.! i professional prosti:u:es xi Srusseis: Beigxm, , , were examineci using erher s French- or a Fiemsh-iangage version oi m e E\':innesota hA,nk:~hasicPersonaiitp icventory :,>lhG'Ii. A c o ~ ~ p a r i s ogro"p n af 96 nonpros:itiice woaer, was recruited frorr: arnong e m p h v e e ~of zn interna:ionai airline. Age differences urihir, rhe prostitute grou;? were also examined. Ir: some ccwrast tc prior research findings, the prostitwe group was s~gnlficamivmore deviant o n several indrcators of psvchoparhalogy. .41sc, oLer pros:irures were mow deviant :has :,70nngerones. An appreciable number of the aomer: rn this profession are in need 3i psv~hoiopicai:reatment.

Thefe have long beer? controversies abour the persona!iry characce:istics and the adjustmen: status of wonen who engage in ~ r o s t i ~ ~ : i as o n:her primary source of income. They have been variously depicted ir, !iteratiire as hardened psychopaths, confmed and pathetic wretches with serious neuroses or psychoses or ever, with severe mental retardation, on cm\.erseIv, as emotionally warn: and affectionate women with "hearts of goid." ExiIe Zoia. Alexander Kupr:~. G e x g e Bernard Sham),james Joyce, and many other writers have :!:awn diverse and lively portraits of the prostitute. Seemhgiv. peycho'logis:~ have been less interested in strrdyng p:ostir.xes than have moral is:^, anthropologists, or sociologis~s.It is easier to moralize, t o document the cross-culturai universaiity of the profession, or ro identify these wonen as social margina'is iKrukhoi, 1964a, i964b, 1955; Parent-Duchateiet-, IE3C;i. ?swho:logical s:udi. is more dlfficuk ro carry nut: Agreements with a pimp or madam are :c be negoriated, Editor's Xote: -4pp:eciarior. 1s expesseLi to X,'. Gran: Dahisrrsrr,: Kenan Professo: sfP s y c h o i ~ y a: the i i n i v e r s i t v of North Carolina, a.ho pre?are5 Dr. De Schampheie:rr..r artlcir for oubiicatlon

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and the right place and the right time to conduct an irtterview or t c administer a test must be founci {Borelli& Starck, 1957; C-reewwaid, 1958; Whick, I962), UnderstandabEp then, the MMPI research literature is quite limited on worrier, serving as prostitutes. One of the few srudie: was carried out by cxner, ' Wylie, Leura, and Parrili (1917) who induded the MMPI in their battery of tests administered to five different subgroups of prostitutes in the environs of XEW Yo& City defined primarily by their method of operatiorr: I-call girls, kIin-house girls, 111-streec walkers, I\;-commuter housewives, and V-streetwalker addicts. They also colIected data from nonprostit~tecomparison women w h o were matched individually to the prostitutes on the basis of age, marital scatus, and years 3f schooling. These authors reported that rhe prostitutes in Classes IV and V oiten manifested evidence of major psychopathology, whereas those irn Class I11 were more iikei): to be just immature and dependent. That is. the women who engaged in prostitution sn a part-time basks appeared t c do so primariiy to support their drug habit and/or as ourlets for persona; and emotionai difficulties. Those in Classes I and 11, however, could no: be reliabiy distinguished from the nonprostitute comparison women in personality characteristics, The ~ u a b e r sof subjects in these latter groups were quire limited, -< however, and these conclusions are restricted to only one urban area. i nis report constitutes an effort to repkate and extend their findings and conclusions. Professional prostitutes in Brussels, Belgiun, whose methods of operadon were cornparahlie to those in Classes II and HI i r ~the Exner et al. stxdy, were recruited through contacts furnished by a graduate student at the University of BrusseBs. The cooperation of these women was gained, and :hey were administered the appropriate language version (French or Flemish) of the Belgian MME. Participation was voluntary, and nc. payment was made to them for the time spent compktirng the i ~ \ ~ ~ n ttotal ~ r of ~ 85 ' prostitutes were tested but, due tc limited educational backgrwmds of many of these women, the records of only 61 met stringent criteria of protocol validity. Zn addition, a subsample of 20 of these records were set aside fsr cross-validational analyses. (Lhf~rtunateIy~ these analyses were ~ ocompleted.) t The ages ofthese prostimtes ranged from 18 to 60 years, with over 80% f a h g between 23 and 40 years. A comparison group of96 women who were employed in various capacities by a Beigian airline (primarily as Bight anendants) were aiso administered :he MMPI. Testing was carried olnt in srna:l groups or: the premises of the company; no names were recorded, Their ages were distpibsted zpproximateiy the same as those In the prostitute groqx

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RESULTS Tabie 1 shows the raw score means and standard deviations of each group on the basic scales of the MMPI, together with rhe d:fferences found between the means

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TABLE 1 Raw Score h4eans and Standard Demations or MkPT Baac Scales for Beigar, Female Prostimtes and Nonprostltutes

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ievei 3t statistical significance oi these SiiYerences base:! or: St;ider.:'s : test. E\le~;afrer eilminating rhe records with ele.ia:ed F scores, the ;rosrirute $roc? was signiGcar>t!~~ more deviant or' both rhe F a d K scales: a3mirri:lg c o more unusual experiences and beliefs. and showing less. defensii~eness:r: :he:? appro~ck! :c the Mh'IPI. O n the ciinicai sceles, the rrostirate groat was sign2hc~ntiyn o r e devian: cn ail hut three scaies (2: El:, and Sii. f igsre i shows rhe mesE pro% k r each group based ox T scores horn the sraaJar.3 :Ameri;ar.: norm.5. A Further anali-s:s o i the differences between rhese rwc grodpc oi women on the A'lggins !!?66\ content scale.: is shown ir: Tabie 2 . (Kore: Tke Religio~s FunJa:rrer,talism [REL? scale hss been oxitred fmx the sec of 'S;'igpiris scdes .. becansf-of the different meanirtgs this measure can haye :c :he 8efgiar: cu!rxe. 1 Di5erertcree herween these means wex ~ i s cexamned. by memc oi Siudenr's : test. and :t, is no:eworth:; :hat signiricance a t c S c y m J t h e 2 5 k i d was ant

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FIGURE 1 C~o~.parxson of mean MMPT profiies ot 4'1 prostitutes i- - -) and 95 normal women :- 1

DISCUSSION Exner et a1. i?9511 tjund that che prosti:ures who waked the street: or u-t~c) engaged in prostitution primarily ro supporr an addiction man:fcsted more psychoparhoiogy -.n the Mh4M t h a n those women whc a w e serving as call girls

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