Die Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (Ho-Skala) im Vergleich zu den
Inhalts-skalen "Zynismus", "Ärger" sowie "Typ A" aus dem MMPI-2: Zur
zukünftigen Operationalisierung von Feindseligkeit
Affiliations: Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Institut
für Sozialmedizin, 23552 Lübeck | Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Institut
und Poliklinik für Medizinische Psychologie, 20246 Hamburg
Note: [] Korrespondenzadresse: Dr. rer. nat. Oskar Mittag, Institut
für Sozialmedizin, Beckergrube 43–47 23552 Lübeck. Tel.: 0451
7992515; E-mail: oskar.mittag@sozmed.mu-luebeck.de.
Abstract: Objectives: Many studies demonstrated a relationship between
hostility and physical or psychological health. Frequently, the Cook-Medley
Hostility Scale (Ho scale), that is part of the MMPI, served as a tool for the
assessment of hostility. The revision of the MMPI raises the question which
scales of the new MMIP-2 should be selected for the measurement of hostility in
the future. Methods: A total of 262 subjects (67 coronary, 56 orthopedic
patients, and 139 healthy subjects) filled in the Ho Scale and the subscales
"cynicism", "anger", and "type A" of the MMPI-2 for an analysis of factorial and
discriminant validity. Results: Principle component analyses demonstrate that cynicism is
the main dimension of hostility. This also pertains to the analyzed subscales
of the MMPI-2. The subscale "cynicism" shows good psychometric properties and
is strongly related to the Ho scale. ANOVAs and ANCOVAs show that only the
cynicism scale and, partially, the Ho scale discriminate between healthy
subjects and patients. Conclusion: In future research, the cynicism subscale of the MMPI-2
should replace the Ho scale. This would be the best way to ensure comparability
of future data to those of earlier studies that relied on the Ho scale for data
assessment.
