The article I reviewed was entitled, "PSM-R: Revised optimism0-pessimism scale for the MMPI-2 and MMPI by Micheal Malinochoc, Kenneth Offord, and Robert Colligan. In this study 762 white women and 646 white men were used to standardize the PSM-R scale developed for use with the MMPI-2. All of the participants were screeened for physical and mental imparments prior to the study and all participants were found in the Rodchester, MN area. The initial scale was developed with 263 items, 85 items considered being "good event" items and 178 considered "bad event" items. A high raw score on the good events items indicated the participant explains causes of good evnets as internal, stable and global, or with an optimistic expanitory style. A low score indicated the participant has a pessemistic explanitory style, or they explain the cause of good events as being from external, unstable or specific causes. On the bad event items the opposite is true. Overall results found that men sco!
             red higher on the good events items, meaning that men had more optimism than women in this study. On the bad events items results found that men and woman have similar explanitory styles until their 50's and then women become more pessimistic. In the next sentence the article states that women have significantly more pessimism then men. People over 70 also reported more pessimism then youger people.
             Overall I had mixed feelings about this article. I think the adition or use of this scale with the MMPI can be useful for clinicians espeically because they can see how the client views the world and how likely it is that they can bennifit from certain things in therpay. There are some things that I have problems with however. The fact that the sample was only white men and women in one small area of the country were used to me makes things really biased in the development of the scale. Using the scale on a client of a different background would most liekly not...