Date of Award

Spring 5-1-1986

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Michael J. Murphy

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to replicate and extend to a child and adolescent sample the findinqs obtained by Pollak and Gilligan (1982) regarding images of violence in Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) stories. The earlier research found that violence in college men's stories was more frequently in response to Rituatjons of affiliation, whereas college women more often projected violence in response to situations of achievement (Pollack & Gilligan, 1982). On the basis of their findings, they proposed that 11 ••• differences in aggression in men and women may be due to whether they perceive relationships as dangerous or safe." (p. 159). The present research made several necessary method changes and administered the cards to two samples of children. Two groups of children, ages 11-12 and 14-15, participated in the study, all of whom were selected from the Jefferson County Public School System in Louisville, Kentucky. The subjects were administered the same TAT cards as those used in the original study. Each story was then coded for the presence or absence of violence and then statistically analyzed via a Chi Square. Additional analyses were conducted with regard to the categorization of the cards and whether or not the students projected loss/separation/ estrangement into the cards. iv The results of the study did not confirm the original findings with regard to sex of the subjects. However, a strong trend was noted for age, with the younger subjects projecting more violence into stories than did the older subjects. A Q-sort of the stimulus cards by mental health professionals resulted in a reclassification of the stimulus cards. Finally, this study found that with children and adolescents, projections of loss/separation/estrangement into TAT stories was more prevalent than were projections of violence.

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