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Editors’s Note:
The following article was prepared for the purpose to describe a new psychological assessment instrument that, although designed for a different purpose, has been shown to be valuable when used in a forensic clinical psychology testing battery with selected criminally-charged individuals. Results from this new testing instrument are seen as especially valuable and useful when attempting to report or otherwise communicate, favorable levels of character and personal integrity possession.

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     Although the Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire (PSSPQ) was originally developed to predict eventual adjudication of success/denial regarding the granting of high-level security clearances (Stone, 1986) and this function continues to be its main use, the instrument also appears to be successfully used for other purposes (i.e., Stone, 2002). The author of this present article [and who is the developer of the PSSPQ] maintains a forensic psychology practice that is mainly involved with psychological assessment of individuals charged within the criminal justice system.. With most cases, his client is usually the defense lawyer and the assessment/evaluation taskings are provided by the involved defense counsel.

     In recent years, it seems that there has been some increase in the number of criminal behavior accusations placed on otherwise innocent appearing persons. In some marital discord cases, one spouse (usually the wife) accuses the other of such crimes such as spousal and child abuse, sexual abuse of the couple’s children, or other criminal offenses. It would appear that in most of these type cases, the accusations are valid or mainly so. However, in a few (whose number appears to be on the increase), the accusations are false and are the basis of subsequent false charges. When such cases are referred to a forensic psychologist, by the involved defense counsel, for psychological assessment, the more likely hoped-for-results (i.e., by defense counsel) are the his/her client will be found to be the nonpossesser of any number of negative mental health statuses and conditions. If the client of the involved defense counsel truly is of bona fide good character, then this would be a status that would be hoped to be found and reported by the psychologist.

     One problem with the last mentioned matter is that not very many, widely-accepted psychological tests are specifically designed to measure character or personal integrity. One might argue that the PCL-R and a very few other instruments designed to assess psychopathy can validly be used for such purposes. However, valid use of the MMPI-2, MCI-various editions, PAI, or other well-known and widely employed personality tests to evaluate such statuses can be easily questioned and debated. Is there any instrument that measures a person’s response to questioning in a wide variety of life areas in which character and personal integrity are commonly displayed, and which involved acceptably developed norms.

     The PSSPQ would seem to be such an instrument; it was originally developed to measure personal response to questioning that is associated with the 11 focused upon areas used in the adjudication of who is to be granted or denied high-level, governmental security clearances. Originally these areas of concern (i.e., Loyalty [to the USA], Close Relations & Associates, Sexual Considerations, Cohabitation, Undesirable Character Traits, Financial Irresponsibility, Alcohol Abuse, Illegal Drugs & Drug Abuse, Emotional & Mental Disorders, Record of Law Violations, and Security Violations) were spelled out in the Director of Central Intelligence Directive 1/14, which now has been replaced by the Director of Central Intelligence Directive 6/4 (as set forth in 1998). Standardized norms were developed (i.e., see Stone, 1986) that involved hundreds of American citizens who were being evaluated for possible granting/denial of high-level security clearances (i.e., at the Top Secret, Sensitive Compartmented Information level), and who had already been polygraphed. In addition to scores being made available on each of the 11 adjudication areas, the PSSPQ contains a quite good lie, dissimulation, or ‘faking-good’ scale. This particular LIE Scale is considered to be exceptionally good as it seems not to be significantly correlated with intelligence, as is the widely used Lie Scale on the MMPI-2. Therefore, it becomes quite evident when an individual has responded to the PSSPQ’s 72 items (each scored in a multiple-choice, five-level paradigm) in a direction that appears to be significantly or unrealistically exaggerated in a favorable direction. An elevated LIE Scale score can normally be interpreted as a likely indication of troubles with respect to character and integrity type matters. Because of its multiple-choice, five-level response allowance, its 72 items are really about the equivalent of 360 true/false items. Ordinarily, most individuals can complete their responding to all of the items in about 10-15 minutes time. The standardization norms all involve large groups of individuals who were candidates for possible security clearance obtaining; all had been polygraphed prior to their PSSPQ testing.

     When the author of this article is tasked to conduct a psychological evaluation in a case in which there are some very real and meaningful appearances of possible bona fide innocence on the part of the accused, it is sometimes decided, when involved in the ongoing process of selecting psychological tests/instruments to be employed in the evaluation, to attempt to make use of the PSSPQ. Actually, sometimes, in order to obtain additional information regarding measurement of the extent of denial, on the part of the accused, administration of the PSSPQ is used even in those cases in which innocence or lack of wrong-doing is clearly unlikely.

     In the past, when the PSSPQ was employed in a psychological examination of a criminally charged individual, in the report prepared regarding the examination, this instrument was described as being perhaps still a bit "experimental" although it has a background of having been described in published articles as well as in papers delivered at scientific meetings. Also, it has a history of being commercially offered and its use sold (i.e., see web-pages:

          http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspq.html,

          http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/individualsales.html, and

          http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/hrandsecdirectors.html.

     When results obtained from use of the PSSPQ are combined with psychological evaluative information from other psychometric, personality-assessing instruments (i.e., the MMPI-2, Hare PCL-R, PAI and other similar-such instrumentations), it seems that the PSSPQ results are the singular most clear means to communicate evaluation information pertinent to character and personal integrity matters.

     This latter matter becomes more important when the forensic psychologist, who is using the PSSPQ in the criminal justice field, is providing testimony in court. The PSSPQ’s particular scales’ scoring arrangement, along with the overall discriminant function prediction of whether the person who responded to the PSSPQ questioning would ordinarily be successful or not were he/she to be adjudicated regarding a high-level governmental security clearance, seems to be a very clear-cut and direct way upon which to base evaluative comments regarding character and personal integrity matters. This instrument’s proven quality LIE Scale also seems to be of assistance when offering testimony regarding the subject’s level of honesty in his/her self-reporting.

     When forensic psychologists are tasked by defense counsels to conduct rather general-focused, psychological evaluations of criminally accused individuals who appear unusually likely to be falsely accused and are, in fact, innocent, as charged, it would appear that introduction of the PSSPQ into the usually employed psychometric testing battery would be a new tool that would be helpful with later communication (i.e., in the subsequently prepared psychological evaluation report as well as when providing expert testimony in court) of matters pertaining to character and personal integrity matters.
 

Stone, L. A. (1986). Manual: Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire. Harpers Ferry, WV: Author (Probity Press).

Stone, L. A. (2002). Use of the Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire (PSSPQ) with cases in which existing security clearances have been withdrawn. Psychology of Espionage Reports, 3, 4 pages.