Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1995

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Major Professor

Alvin G. Burnstein

Abstract

This study examines gender differences in Rorschach test responses. It begins with a short history of the masculine bias believed to be inherent in western civilization and includes a history of gender research in western psychology. In particular, it examines gender differences in real, whole human content responses [H], color responses [C], human movement responses [HM], and two composite responses: real, whole- figure, humans engaged in socially appropriate, nonmalevolent, movement, or, [H,HM,+,B or N]; and, the ratio of the number of these responses to the total number of human movement responses involving real, whole-figure human content, or, [H,HM,-I-,B or N]/[H,HM]. Rorschach test score data were scored for a sample of 31 male, and a sample of 31 female, non paid volunteers who were all full time employees of the University of Tennessee. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to test for significance of the differences in scores between these two samples. The women in this sample were found to produce significantly more [C], [HM], and [H,HM,+,B or N] responses than the males. No significant difference were found for the number of [H] responses nor for the ratio of [H,HM,+,B or N] responses to [H,HM] responses. The greater number of [C] responses by women is interpreted as reflecting the association between affect and color on the Rorschach test and supporting the belief that women are in more profound contact with their feelings than men are. The greater number of [HM] responses by women is interpreted as reflecting the association between intelligence, imagination and Rorschach test [HM] responses, supporting the notion that women have a greater intellectual and imaginative capacity than men do. The [H,HM,+,B or N] response is used in this study as a measure of empathy. The greater number of these repsonses produced by women, as opposed to men, is consistent with the notion of a greater empathic capacity on the part of females. The number of [H] responses is interpreted as a measure of interest in interpersonal relationships. The lack of a significant difference in the number of [H] responses suggests that the females in this study may have no more investment in interpersonal relationships than the males in this study have. The ratio score [H,HM,+,B or N]/[H,HM] is used in this study as a second measure of empathy. The lack of a significant difference between men and women in this ratio suggests that the number of positive Social Appropriateness [+] and non-malevolent Motivational Valuation [B or N] scores do not differentiate males and females on the Rorschach test and may not be important in the measurement of empathy. Significant differences in the number of [C], [HM] and [H,HM,+,B or N] responses is consistent with the belief that women, more so than men, may be characterized as imaginative, intelligent, empathic and in profound contact with their feelings. These characteristics are believed to reflect the manifestation of the ancient principle of feminine receptivity in the daily lives of women.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS