personality scales contain 3 Grossman Facet Scales for a total of 45 Grossman Facet Scales. When interpreting the personality scales, the authors recommend that qualified professionals interpret the Severe Personality Pathology scales before the Clinical Personality Pattern scales as the pattern of responding indicated by the Severe Personality Pathology scale scores may also affect the scores on the Clinical Personality Pattern scales (i.e. if an individual scores high on the Severe Personality Pathology scale P (Paranoid), this may also explain the pattern of scores on the Clinical Personality Pattern scales). Grossman Facet Scales The Grossman Facet Scales were added to improve the overall clinical utility and specificity of the test, and attempt to influence future iterations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The hope was the DSM would adopt the prototypical feature identification method used in the MCMI to differentiate between personality disorders. There are three facet scales within each of the Clinical Personality Patterns and Severe Personality Pathology scales. Each facet scale is thought to help identify the key descriptive components of each personality scale, making it easier to evaluate slight differences in symptom presentations between people with elevated scores on the same personality scale. For instance, two profiles with an elevated score on the Borderline scale may have differences in their Temperamentally Labile facet scale scores. This would mean, for clinical treatment or assessment planning, you could have a better understanding of how quickly and spontaneously a person's mood may change, compared to others with elevated Borderline scale scores. There are also some noteworthy limitations of the Grossman facet scales. The MCMI personality scales share some of the same test items, leading to strong intercorrelations between different personality scales. Additionally, each facet consists of less than 10 items and the items are often similar to ones in other facets of the same personality scale. Thus, it is unclear how much a facet measures a unique component of a personality scale. Furthermore, statistical analysis has found some items within the facet scales may not be consistently measuring the same component as other items on that scale, with some item alpha coefficients as low as .51. For these reasons it is recommended to use supplemental information, in addition to that provided by the facet scales, to inform any assessment or treatment decisions. Summary table of personality scales Clinical syndrome scales 10 Clinical Syndrome Scales correspond with