15 PERSONNEL SCREENING WITH THE MMPI-2 JAMES N. BUTCHER, DENIZ S. ONES, AND MICHAEL CULLEN The history of objective personality assessment in the United States began with a personnel selection application. During World War I, Wood- worth (1920) developed the Personal Data Sheet, a paper-pencil question- naire addressing emotional adjustment issues, in an effort to screen out mentally unsuited draftees from the army. After the war ended, personality questionnaires became a widely explored approach to personality assess- ment. The use of psychological tests in making personnel-related decisions is an appropriate professional activity for psychologists to undertake and a valuable contribution to the employment process. Several psychological adjustment factors have been considered important for personnel practi- tioners to address in assessing clients for responsible positions of public trust. Examples of these psychological adjustment factors include emotional stability; judgment and public responsibility; ability to deal with situations that induce extreme stress; capability of dealing effectively on an interper- sonal level for jobs that require teamwork (e.g., airline flight crews); and the presence of severe personality disorders or other psychological disorders that may result in rule violations, careless and impulsive behavior patterns, and so forth. 381 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/11287-014 MMPI-2: A Practitioner's Guide, edited by J. N. Butcher Copyright © 2006 American Psychological Association. All rights reserved. Copyright American Psychological Association. Not for further distribution.