Rigidity and flexibility on the Rorschach

✍ Scribed by Benjamin Fabrikant

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1954
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 274 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9762
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-4679(195407)10:3<255::aid-jclp2270100313>3.0.co;2-5

✦ Synopsis

One of the uses of the Rorschach test is to evaluate the extent of the rigidity and flexibility of an individual's defense system and his approach to life's problems. I n a recent experiment on the effects of a verbal set on Rorschach test performance of neurotics(2), the writer had the opportunity to evaluate the use of certain Rorschach variables as indicators of rigidity and flexibility.

PROCEDURE

Two equated groups of male, psychoneurotic veterans were used. The Rorschach test was administered twice, two weeks apart, to each of the subjects in the two groups. The subjects in Group A received the same instructions each time, those in Group B received new instructions prior to the second administration.

These instructions were so structured as to maximize changes in the frequency of responses in the movement, color, shading, and texture response categories.

The initial and repeat test records of both groups were inspected for the existence of changes on the retest in the frequency of responses in the above mentioned four categories. The writer found that only three records in Group A showed changes in at least three of the four response categories, while 15 records of Group B showed changes in at least three categories. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, only Group B records were analyzed.

Cowen and Thompson('), and Hertz@) found that the more rigid individuals were characterized by the presence of certain factors on the Rorschach. The factors common to both studies, and the cutting scores used most frequently in the available literature to indicate the more rigid individuals are: 'From the Veterans Administration Regional Office,