What the Rorschach can do for you: incremental validity in clinical applications

Psychological assessment instruments vary in how much structure they provide and the extent to which their meaning and purpose are apparent. The Rorschach Inkblot Method (RIM) is a relatively unstructured instrument whereas the MMPI-2 is a relatively structured instrument: People respond to these two instruments at different levels of conscious awareness concerning the possible significance of their responses. Because of its relatively unstructured nature, the RIM is less susceptible than the MMPI-2 to impression management. This complementarity makes it possible for Rorschach findings to enrich clinical assessments, especially when efforts to fake good result in MMPI-2 protocols that provide little reliable information. There is solid conceptual basis in psychology for employing multi-method assessment, and clinical applications in which Rorschach data contribute to fuller or more accurate formulations than would otherwise be possible attest the incremental validity that can derive from including relatively unstructured measures in a test battery.