Personality organizations as expressed in the Rorschach Inkblot Technique for schizophrenic, depressive and non-patient populations.

Abstract

This study examined 26 Rorschach variables from data collected from 320 schizophrenics, 315 depressives and 142 non-patients. The schizophrenic and depressive data were collected from Exner's Comprehensive System's normative data on comparison samples. The non-patient data were collected through current testing. The 26 variables examined were considered to be central to interpretation and diagnosis by Mason, Cohen and Exner. Analysis compared the schizophrenic, depressive and non-patient samples and distinguished patterns of personality organizations between the three samples. While there were some similarities between the three populations, each group reflected unique personality characteristics. These findings supported the hypothesis that schizophrenics, depressives and non-patients differ in style of their responses to the Rorschach Inkblot Technique. However, the findings were not completely consistent with the Mason, Cohen and Exner study to which it was compared.