Relationship between behavioral indices of aggression and hostile content on the TAT for incarcerated young women

The role played by fantasy in moderating the overt expression of aggression was investigated by examining the relationship between aggressive behavior and hostile content on the Thematic Apperception Test. A Behavior Rating Scale, Behavior Checklist, and Aggressiveness of Offense Scale (Matranga, 1976) were used to measure the aggressive behavior of 15 incarcerated women between 16 and 20 yr. old. No support was found for the hypothesis that hostile content on the TAT is negatively correlated with behavioral measures of aggression. Instead, results suggested that there is no significant relationship between these variables, at least with an incarcerated, predominantly Native female population.