Journal of Projective Psychology and Mental Health: Volume 26, Number 2, July 2019 Editorial |
||
|---|---|---|
| Editorial: Projective Techniques are not moribund: Comment on the Benson et al. (2019) Assessment Practices Article, Chris Piotrowski, pages 73-76. 2. Implicitly Measured Self Definition and Social Definition Predict Men’s Life Outcomes 10 Years Later Sharon Rae Jenkins, Pui San Tse, Jeffrey Vance and Ashley Allison, pages 77-86. As assessed by thematic apperceptive techniques (TATs), self-definition and social definition are two personality styles with differing worldviews and sources of individual identity definition. Self-defining individuals view the world in causal terms and prefer internal, personal definitions of self, whereas socially defined individuals see the world as less systematic and accept external social roles ascribed by their social contexts. Most previous research on these styles has studied women‘s life patterns. The current multi-method study extends that literature to men, using a longitudinal sample studied in 1958-60 to 1969-71 from the Guidance and Oakland Growth Studies at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley. Self-definition in 1958-60 predicted higher social class 11 years later, along with valuing intrinsic aspects of jobs and having jobs that used their skills, both with social class controlled. Socially defined men valued extrinsic job aspects that accommodated family life. Self Report and interviewer ratings of marital satisfaction and adjustment were significantly higher for self-defining men than socially defined, but not with social class controlled. Interviewers rated self-defining men‘s morale higher than socially defined, independent of social class. Future research should examine these issues in modern samples having quite different gender role ascriptions. 3. Is Gambling Addiction Related to Celebrity Addiction? Brad Lian, Mara S. Aruguete, Ho Huynh, Lynn E. McCutcheon and Michael P. Murtagh,pages 87-96. Past research suggests that gambling addiction and celebrity addiction may share common features. A survey containing two measures of gambling addiction and two measures of celebrity addiction were administered to 182 adult participants from the United States recruited through Mechanical Turk to determine the nature of the relationships among these scales. As expected, the gambling measures correlated positively with each other and the measures of addiction to celebrities correlated positively with each other. As hypothesized, both gambling measures correlated positively with both measures of addiction to celebrities. The authors discussed possible causes for the latter finding. These findings imply that persons who are addicted to gambling may be susceptible to other addictions, specifically an addiction to celebrities. Furthermore, these two types of addictions share several attitudes and behaviors. 4. Contemporary Research Emphasis in Personality Assessment: A Bibliometric Analysis Mapping Investigatory Domain (2009-2018) Chris Piotrowski, pages 97-103. Bibliometric studies, particularly content analysis methodologies, of the extant literature can provide a snapshot on the nature, scope, and breadth of a select body of knowledge available in scholarly repositories. Although several bibliometric studies regarding the field of Personality Assessment have appeared, few have reported on an exploratory ‘topical’ analysis on the main subject areas or domains across a pool of studies over time. The current study is an initial attempt to address this gap in the literature by conducting a content analysis of research studies published in the Journal of Personality Assessment(JPA) over the past 10 years. The major aim is to determine the scope and breadth of investigatory topical areas most emphasized by researchers during this time frame (not on individual tests or assessment instruments under study). An online search in PsycINFO identified a total of 750 articles in JPA from 2009 to 2018; of these, 677 were determined to be ‘primary’ articles (comments, replies, erratum, editorials were excluded) and served as the data-set for the analysis. The author coded each article with a topical descriptor and maintained a scoring template based on frequency counts across categories. The analysis identified34 topical categories which represented at least 1% of the total distribution. The top researched topics were: personality disorders, statistical approaches/methods analysis, models/theory, construct validation, scoring issues/response format, 5-factor/Big 5, interpersonal factors, brief tests/short forms, therapeutic assessment, and cross-national test adaptations. Moreover, a myriad of highly salient topics in the clinical literature received limited investigatory attention in JPA (e.g., Computer report narratives, substance abuse, suicide potential, stress syndromes, Dark Triad, assessment of the elderly, well-being). Overall, this descriptive analysis confirms that the field of personality assessment is robust in scope and reflects varied research interests, yet the breadth of investigatory and/or perhaps editorial topical interest could be expanded to include diverse clinical areas. These exploratory findings should be considered tentative since the study results are based on the scholarly content of only one journal in the field. Future bibliometric studies would benefit by examination of the extant literature, indexed across multidisciplinary scholarly databases, on the general subject area of personality assessment. 5. The Importance of Lambda to the Generalizability of Rorschach Findings Reported in the Literature Carl Gacono, pages 104-106. In several articles, my colleagues and I have addressed concerns regarding methodological issues with the recent RIM research (see Cunliffe et al., 2012; Gacono, Loving, &Bodholdt, 2001; Smith et. al., 2018). In many studies, the impact of these issues is frequently hidden, masked in a description of statistical procedures and shrouded by the umbrella of a meta-analysis. Findings from these flawed studies influence conclusions that may appear “controversial†but are in actuality an artifact of the individual studies’ inadequate design. Alarmingly, such method-related practices negatively impact the scholarly perception of the Rorschach and are frequently cited by editors for rejecting submitted Rorschach studies for publication, based largely on the presence of “controversy†which does not exist. In this brief commentary, the importance of Lambda to the generalizability of Rorschach findings is discussed. 6. Interpersonal Relationship Matrix, Marital Quality and Loneliness Pattern of Parents of Clients with Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Normal Controls: A Comparative Exploration Arundhati Biswas, Nilanjana Sanyal and Manisha Dasgupta, pages 107-117. The present study aimed to explore the pattern of interpersonal relationship matrix, marital quality and loneliness of three groups of subjects, namely, parents of Borderline Personality Disorder (P-BPD), parents of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (P-OCD) and parents of normal offspring (P-NC) with respect to selected personality variables, namely, Interpersonal relationship pattern, Marital Quality and Loneliness of the subjects. The sample consisted of 90 male (fathers) and 90 female (mothers) subjects, divided into three groups, age ranging from 4062 years. The obtained results were analyzed by using ANOVA followed by Post-hoc Tukey (HSD) test. Results revealed significant profile differences amongst three groups with respect to all the three variables. P-BPD subjects were found to be less unassured-submissive, unassuming-ingenious, warm-agreeable than P-OCD and P-NC subjects. P-OCD clients were more arrogant, calculating, cold-hearted, aloof-introverted, unassured submissive, less warm-agreeable and gregarious-extraverted than P-NC subjects. P-NC subjects had better marital quality than P-OCD subjects followed by P-BPD subjects. Loneliness was found to be greater in B-PBD subjects, followed by P-OCD subject and P-NC subjects. Implications of the study along psychotherapeutic angles have been discussed. 7. Revisiting the Rorschach Controversy: The Rorschach Test- A Ghost of the Past or a Bearer of further promise? Tilottama Mukherjee and Sreetama Chatterjee, pages 118-127. For almost the majority of the last century, one test that has both fascinated us and likewise being subjected to immense criticism, is the projective test named Rorschach Ink blot Test. Controversies regarding this test‘s validity and utility was perhaps even higher when different studies used different scoring system before the advent of the comprehensive scoring system. This study aimed to have a look at what different studies have pointed. Although it was seen that different studies yielded equivocal results, majority studies showed its limited use for being used solely for a medico-legal tests, or detection of personality disorders. On the other studies indicated that it proved quite useful in differentiating the protocols of schizophrenia patients and patients with unipolar and bipolar affective disorder from others or normal controls. Thus, looking upon the extent to which it is still used in research context even currently, it may yet not be considered as ghost of the past, instead if its use can be done more judiciously in a proper context with adequate training then perhaps the test can continue being useful. 8. Maintenance of Cognitive Drill Therapy Gains in Test Anxiety: A Pilot Study Deepak Kumar, Bhavana Arya and Rakesh Kumar, pages 128-133. Cognitive Drill Therapy (CDT) relies on verbal exposure to feared disastrous consequences. The cognition of feared outcomes are generated and then time perspective of feared cognition is changed into the present or past which is required to be repeated many times until there is substantial drop in the felt anxiety. This form of exposure has yielded therapeutic benefits in cases of phobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In the present pilot study, our aim was to examine the role of verbal exposure of feared outcomes in test anxiety of the students enrolled in coaching centre for preparation of entrance examination of professional degrees such as Engineering and Medical. A sample of 20 participants was drawn which was allocated to two sub-groups (a) Study Group (n=10) and (b) Control Group (n=10). The study group received sessions of verbal exposure and control group was not exposed to any treatment. The results suggest that the test anxiety scores of study group dropped significantly which were maintained over follow up. The implications and scope for future studies are outlined. |
||
| Subscribe For Download |
SIS Journal