The measurement of social competence in children using the rorschach inkblot test: A validation study

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2005-08

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Abstract

The use of the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) has been a source of much controversy in the research literature. Proponents of the CS have called for additional research to address difficulties that remain with Rorschach CS norms and validity. One such CS variable that needs additional validation is the human representational variable (HRV). The current study found some validity for the HRV among children in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade who fall into three different sociometric groups: rejected aggressive, rejected nonaggressive, and popular. In particular, children in the rejected aggressive group had a greater number of poor human responses (PHR) than children in the rejected nonaggressive group and showed a trend toward having a greater percentage of PHR than children in the popular group. In addition, children in the popular group showed a trend toward having a greater percentage of good human responses (GHR) than children in the rejected aggressive group. Additional CS variables (i.e., COP, AG, S, CF, C, Afr, isolation index, passive and active movement) that indicated some aspect of social competence according to Exner were examined among the three groups to assess the degree of overlap with the HRV. Children in the rejected aggressive group were found to have more AG and more dominant color responses than children in the popular and rejected nonaggressive groups. Additionally, children in the rejected nonaggressive group showed a trend toward having a significantly higher isolation index than children in the popular group.

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Keywords

Good human responses (GHR), Poor human responses (PHR), Human representational variable (HRV), Rorschach

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