The development and use of the hostility and direction of hostility questionnaire

The HDHQ, a questionnaire designed to assess hostility or punitiveness, consists of items culled from the MMPI arranged in 5 scales which measures extrapunitive and intropunitive aspects of hostility.

Abstract

The HDHQ, a questionnaire designed to assess hostility or punitiveness, consists of items culled from the MMPI. These are arranged in 5 scales which measures extrapunitive and intropunitive aspects of hostility. The theoretical underpinning of the test lies in Foulds' theory of personality and personal illness and research has been carried out to investigate the statistical relationships existing between the scales. The HDHQ has been used in many projects; psychiatric patients, prisoners and attempted suicides being among the populations studied. The results obtained from such projects have suggested ways in which the test could be improved. A reinterpretation of the existing scales is one possibility while the elimination of some items and the regrouping of items into new scales is also feasible. In any such development a balance must be made between making changes indicated by the results of research and retaining the older format for which a large body of knowledge and expertise has accrued. High priority must be given to the collation and integration of the many studies, frequently unpublished, in which the instrument has been used.