MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY-2 AS A DETECTOR OF EMOTIONAL RISK FACTORS FOR THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF NEWLY-ADMITTED UNDERGRADUATE PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS

Currently, many universities are demonstrating interest in identifying the factors that may place their students' psychological well-being at risk. It is considered important to identify the personality traits that may endanger students' university education and professional activities. The sample consisted of 324 students recently entering an undergraduate program in psychology. The Spanish-language version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) with standards for Mexican university students was used. Female students report feelings of sadness, depression and anxiety, as well as behaviors that are demanding, histrionic, persuasive and impulsive, and they indicate a desire that situations be adapted to them. Male participants report immature and rebellious behavior toward authority figures and tend to blame others for their problems. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for internal consistency of the instrument was calculated for the Validity, Basic, Supplementary and Content scales, yielding a total score of 0.824. These results indicate that the MMPI-2 version for Mexico is a reliable measure for the university students tested.