The expression of primary affects in portraits drawn by schizophrenics

In a psychiatric hospital setting, 15 patients under treatment for schizophrenia and 15 healthy persons were asked to draw (1) a human face, (2) another face that expressed their own feelings at that moment, and (3) afterward the facial expressions of rage, fear, disgust, joy, sadness and shame within a standardized egg-shaped face matrix. Both groups were matched for age, sex and education, and all drawings were coded independently. The schizophrenics drew fewer facial action units, and their facial drawings were more stereotyped than the control group's. Neutral faces without any affective expression were twice as frequent within the experimental group. According to Ekman and Friesen's table of emotion prediction, the accuracy was the same for both groups with the exception of sadness. Only 20% of the action units in the schizophrenics' sadness drawings were accurate compared to 51% in the control group. Based on observations during the drawing process, findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of cathexis defense as an attempt to reduce the impact of the affective stimuli the schizophrenics created themselves.