Projective Testing for Analyzing Personality

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Recommended: strengths and weaknesses of projective tests

Projective tests are a measure for analyzing personality. They are established in the idea of Sigmund Freud’s theory of unconscious processes. Projective techniques were first sought out as a means for people to unconsciously project their personality on to obscure or vague stimuli, possibly revealing the patient’s internal conflicts and hidden emotions. Projective testing has been found to significantly differ from other objective psychological tests through the range of possible responses making them difficult to standardize and evaluate (Trull, 2005). Projective techniques are used in multiple tests. The most widely used tests according to Lubin, Larsen, and Matarrazzo (1984), who surveyed psychologists and psychiatrists in many different fields, are the Rorschach Inkblot Test, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), Draw a Person Test, and Sentence Completion Methods. Although projective testing has always been popular, it has faced scientific evidence controversy, referred to as the “projective paradox” (Cordon, 2005), throughout history when reviewing the problems and benefits of this style of testing. Criticisms of projective tests include the heavy reliance on clinical judgement and raise questions regarding (a) the reliability of the test results; (b) the validity and method; (c) contextual influences; (d) range of the tests. Projective tests also provide benefits in their unique results, wide range of results, and potential usefulness. Examining the historical progression of projective testing over the past decade shows a continual movement towards understanding unconscious processes and formulating empirical methods for testing personality.

History

Francis Galton started the field of modern personality assessment ...

... middle of paper ...

...(2004). Masters of the mind: Exploring the story of mental illness from ancient times to the new millennium. N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Morgan, W. G. (1995). Origin and History of the Thematic Apperception Test Images. Journal of Personality Assessment, 65, 237-254.

Murstein, B. I. (1965). Handbook of projective techniques. New York, NY: Basic Books, Inc.

Scott, L. (1981). Measuring intelligence with the goodenough-harris drawing test. Psychological bulletin, 89(3), 483-505.

Thorne, B. M., & Thorne, T. B. (Eds.). (2005). Connections in the history and systems of psychology (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Trull, T. (Ed.). (2005). Personality assessment. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, Inc.

Weiner, I. B., & Greene, R. L. (n.d.). Handbook of personality assessment. (Original work published 2008) Retrieved from http://books.google.com/.

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