A methodology for the use of the Rorschach in clinical research

Traditional approaches to the Rorschach produce a myriad of isolated but overlapping variables and ratios which limit the utilization of the Rorschach in research. Several new conceptual approaches to the Rorschach provide the basis for integrating the multitude of Rorschach scores into more molar variables that can be scored reliably and that measure central dimensions of personality organization. These new approaches assess dimensions of explicit personality theories rather than being derived from the test alone. Factor analysis of variables derived from several of these new approaches along with several more traditional scores, indicate seven basic factors which assess important dimensions on the Rorschach: degree of reality testing, primary experiential mode (action or ideation), degree of access to primitive modes of thought and the extent to which these modes are integrated effectively, degree of the investment in appropriate and inappropriate interpersonal relationships, and severity of pathological thinking. These seven empirically independent, orthogonal factors can be assessed by single variables that significantly differentiate opiate addicts and psychiatric patients and significantly correlate with independent estimates of ego functioning and development as evaluated in the Bellak clinical interview and on the Loevinger Sentence Completion Test.