THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 1

Thematic Apperception Test

Aim

To assess the personality structure of the participant using Thematic Apperception Test
and Bellack form for analysis.

Basic concepts

Psychological testing makes use of psychological tests that are standardized tools involving
classification of behaviour into categories, obtained through sampling. These tests are divided into
objective tests and subjective tests. One among the subjective ones are the projective techniques
used to assess personality of an individual. ‘Projective Tests’ are tests that expose the examinee to
face vague and ambiguous stimuli, urged to respond with his or her own constructions (Gregory,
2015). The term ‘projective method’ was introduced to describe a list of tests probing personality
through the use of unstructured stimuli (Frank, 1939, 1948). Projective testing drew its roots in
psychoanalytic theory, especially its elaboration on the unconscious aspects of personality. To
delve into the unconscious realm, users of projective tests believed that unstructured, vague, and
ambiguous stimuli provided the ideal circumstance for revelations about inner aspects of
personality, giving a way out to the innermost mental process that remain out of awareness for the
examinee. ‘Projective Hypothesis’ assumes that personal and individualized interpretations of
ambiguous stimuli must necessarily reflect the unconscious needs, motives, and conflicts of the
examinee (Gregory, 2015).

Projective techniques have different classifications, done by different psychologists using

differing basis. One such classification by Lindzey (1995) has classified projective techniques
based on the responses needed into five different categories-

1. Association Techniques:
This category of techniques encompasses all those situations where associations are evoked
in examinee’s mind after being exposed to stimulus materials. Association Techniques
includes the Rorschach Inkblot Test, which has a global appeal making it one of the most
widely used test. This test necessitates responses to an unstructured situation of inkblots in
the form of verbal associations with objects, events, persons, etc., where no shaping of
associations is permitted neither on the part of the examiner nor on the examinee. Other
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 2

association techniques include Rorschach’s psychometrically senior cousin, the Holtzman

Inkblot technique (1961), and Word Association techniques. A word-association test
involves the presentation of a variety of words successively, with the examinee being
instructed to respond with the very first word striking his mind after listening to the
stimulus word. Subsequently, personality is studied through the analysis of the responses
given and the reaction time (the time elapsing between the presentation of the stimulus
word and the response word) taken by the examinee.
2. Construction Techniques:
These techniques involve construction of a story on the part of the examinee in response to
stimulus materials (usually a picture), within a specified time period. There are no records
of time taken by the examinees, but the presented themes and mode of responding are
marked relevant. Some of the best examples of these techniques include the Thematic
Apperception Test (TAT), the Children’s Apperception Test (CAT), the Object Relations
Technique, and the others, many of which build upon TAT. All of these tests require the
examinee to construct or produce simple or complex statements in the form of a story,
which will be finally used for analysis.
3. Completion Techniques:
Such techniques incorporate situations comprising of some incomplete sentences and the
examinee being instructed to complete them in any way he/she desires. Responses are
thereafter interpreted and analyzed to draw inferences regarding his/her personality.
However, these techniques do not have a uniform and standard mode of analysis, making
their uses controversial. Stories have also been used as completion techniques. Completion
techniques consist mainly of Sentence Completion Tests. Sentence Completion Tests are
open to two types of interpretations- ‘subjective-intuitive’ analysis of the latent motivations
behind the responses or ‘objective analysis’ by assigning scores to each completed sentence
(Gregory, 2015).
4. Expressive Techniques-
Here, situations require examinees to express their personalities through involvement in
some manipulative tasks, usually encompassing some interaction with given materials.
Some common examples are play, drawing, role-playing, painting, etc. Much attention is
paid to the way or process through which manipulation materials is done. For instance, the
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 3

examinee may be asked to play with a given set of dolls, where attention is directed to the
process by which dolls are selected and handled during the play. Therefore, the process
rather than the end (such as the content or theme of the stories) is important here, making
them different from construction techniques. Draw-a-Person Test or House-Tree-Person
tests are among the popular choices of clinicians, in spite of considering their doubtful
validity data available.

These are also a fifth category of techniques, called ‘choice or ordering techniques’, which
might not be regarded as projective techniques in their own right, but may be as an effort towards
making them objectified (Kerlinger,1973). Usually, the examinee chooses the most appropriate
picture for oneself or ranks a set of the, in order of his/her preference, on the presentation of some
sets of pictures or items conveying the different degree of a trait. Inferences are based on the
choices made by the examinee. An example is the Szondi Test, which requires the examinees to
rank sets of pictures along a like-dislike dimension.

Murray’s theory of needs

Henry Murray (1938) described a need as a "potentiality or readiness to respond in a certain

way under certain given circumstances". His theory of personality (developed between 1893
and1988) was organized in terms of motives, presses, and needs. In general, theories based on
needs and motives consider behaviours to reflect personality, which are in control of needs
(temporary or more deeply embedded in one’s nature). Murray regarded these psychogenic needs
to be functional largely on the unconscious level but dominantly influencing our personality,
having potential to be provoked either internally or through environmental forces. According to
Murray needs are of two types- (a) primary needs, which are basic needs built upon biological
demands like the need for food and water; and (b) secondary needs, which are generally
psychological in nature, as those of nurturance, independence, and achievement contributing to an
individual’s psychological well-being. Murray developed a list of 28 needs encompassing the
possible range of needs, and to complement these needs, he developed a list of 24 possible
environmental forces, terming them as ‘presses’.
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 4

‘Thema’ referred to the units of behaviour resulting from needs and presses interactions.
Themas connect to become ‘serial thema’ and an individual’s ‘unity thema’ comprised of the
pattern of related needs and presses, giving meaning to one’s behaviour on large. Murray’s theory
of personality had a major influence in the development and use of the Thematic Apperception
Test.

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a school of psychology, emphasizing psychic determinism and

importance of childhood experiences in framing an adult’s personality, by focusing on the role of
unconscious in causing human behaviour. It is also a specialized treatment method used for
examining the unconscious mental processes for dealing with mental disorders. Much of the
psychoanalytic theory was derived from Freud’s clinical experience in treating neurotic patients.

Sigmund Freud divided the levels of consciousness into the conscious mind (where
awareness exists), preconscious (awareness can be achieved through effort), and unconscious mind
(having the mental process much beyond one’s awareness, occupying the largest portion of
personality). The activity of conscious mind is governed not only by its constituents alone but also
by the unconscious mental processes, acting behind the former. No rules and no categorization of
the outer world is applicable to the unconscious. the unconscious ‘is timeless, chaotic, infantile
and primitive’. Experience and inherited instinctual content shape the unconscious, exercising
major control over the conscious mind.

The Freudian Psychic Structure of Personality is distinguished into the id, the ego and the
superego. Overt behaviour and actions are regulated through the dynamic interplay of these
structures. Id, the source of all psychic energy, works on the pleasure principle where immediate
gratification of needs is sought belonging to the unconscious mind. Thinking or processing
determined by the Id is the referred as the primary process, often irrational, illogical, and filled
with emotional, aggressive and sexual instincts.

The other structure of personality, the ego, keeps a check on the expression of Id by
adjusting it with the demands of the external world. The ego is partially conscious and partially
unconscious, works on the reality principle and manages the conflict between the irrational
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 5

demands of the Id and heavy moral and value-laden demands of the superego. The thinking marked
by logic and reasoning comprises of the secondary process.

The superego is the moral censor, which is identified with the voice of conscience. The
moral values are internalized through the process of socialization which over the time become the
part of the conscience. The demands put by the superego try to suppress the pleasure-seeking
instincts of the Id, and the ego, acts like a mediator between the two with respect to the outer world.

According to Freud, defense mechanisms are channels of releasing anxiety and conflict
through distortion of reality to reduce the psychic pain. These are employed unconsciously and
lead to pathology only when used excessively to impair effective functioning (Santrock, 2011).
‘Repression’ is the most common one used and forms the fundamental basis to all other
mechanisms. It pushes the unacceptable impulses down into the unconscious mind, to avoid
anxiety-provoking behaviour. Other defense mechanisms include sublimation (replacing
unacceptable behavior with socially acceptable ones), regression (returning to early childish
behaviour when faced with anxiety) , denial (refusing the existence of a situation to avoid anxiety),
rationalization (cooking excuses for otherwise unacceptable behaviour), displacement (transfer of
emotions from one object/event to another), and reaction formation (acting in the opposite manner
to hide one’s unacceptable feelings and tendencies).

History and development of TAT

Morgan and Murray first conceptualized TAT in a 1935 article, where instructions to
administer all of the 20 cards in two separate sessions within two hours were stated. The basic
assumption was that interpretation of subject’s stories regarding ambiguous stimuli had the
potential of revealing the unconscious fantasies. Initial belief was that TAT would be able to
provide an ‘X-ray’ of personality that psychoanalysis might take months to discover. The test faced
enthusiastic reaction and acceptance as both a clinical instrument and research tool, generating
writing of lots of books and articles regarding it by the 1950s.

Despite of extensive research, TAT is believed to not have reached the degree of
standardization comparable to MMPI/MMPI-2 or WAIS-III. Different methods of scoring and
interpretation are used by different clinicians for different kind of clients and variations of
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 6

shortened versions of TAT exist, raising serious questions about its reliability and validity.
However, its popularity remains undeterred by this fact.

The development of several variations of TAT took shape after resentment among the
researchers over the possible limitations of the test. The most common one is Children
Apperception Test (CAT) developed for children of 3 to 10 years of age, with only 10 cards
considering their shorten attention span. The Gerontological Apperception Test and Senior
Apperception Test are the ones frequently used for the elderly population, showing pictures of
situations concerning them.

Apart from these, several TAT-type tests have been made to tap specific problem areas.
For example, the Stress Tolerance Test was developed to understand how people perceive and deal
with the situation. Ritzler, Sharkey, and Chudy (1980) developed the Sourthern Mississippi TAT
(SM-TAT) to counter the negative stories and outdated pictures that might be difficult to identify
with them. they suggested that it was more actively relatable and relatively fewer variations in
thematic content was found.

Moreover, a number of different approaches to TAT’s scoring and interpretation have been
developed. The most updated and frequently used one is that of Bellack’s, which has itself been
undergoing a lot of revisions and is perhaps one of the simplest and frequently used of the available
systems. However, it is decreasing in its use because of the difficulties and limitations it poses.
For instance, clinicians want more quick, efficient, and more cost-effective measures to assess
personality. Moreover, the techniques that have a stronger empirical and psychometric underlining
are preferred. Despite all of this, a number of recent developments prove are relevant to TAT and
its future use like the recent scoring systems being able to produce more valid predictions as per
the research done.

Description of the tool

The test was initially distributed by Murray and his associates at the Harvard Psychological
Clinic in 1938. TAT exposes the clients to a set of pictures and are asked to produce narratives
regarding what is happening in them. The rationale rests on the revelation of innermost mental
processes, dependent on psychological tendencies: one where people interpret the stories in
reference to their past experiences and desires and the other is to write stories by drawing on their
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 7

emotions and needs embedded in their past experiences (Murray, 1943). The TAT materials consist
of 20 cards consisting ambiguous pictures on them. Each card has been coded to designate the age
group and sex for which it is meant. It has been numbered in a way so that they can be administered
on four groups- adult males, adult females, boys, and girls. Each card has a number at its back
and/or letters to indicate which sex and/or age group the card is intended for. One with a number
but without a letter is to be administered to all subjects regardless. A number with “M” or “F”
shows that it is intended for males or females, and “B” or “G” for boys or girls, respectively. There
may also be a number and either BM or GF, indicating the card is to be given to boys/males or
girls/females. Ideally, all of the 20 cards were suggested to be given by Murray, the shorter
versions typically use 8 to 12 selected cards relevant as per the person and situation. (Groth-
Marnat, 2003)

There are four kinds of cards- male cards, female cards, gender-neutral cards and blank
cards used in the original version. Examples of each are shown below:

1. Picture 3BM-
Description of card: A boy is hurdled next to a couch. On the floor next to him is an
ambiguous object that could be a set of keys or a revolver.
Frequent plots: Usually, people center their stories on an individual who has been
emotionally involved with another person or feels guilty over his some past behaviour.
2. Picture 3GF-
Description of card: A woman is standing next to an open door with one hand grabbing the
side of the door and the other holding her downcast face.
Frequent plots: Themes of interpersonal loss and contemplated harm directed internally as
a result of guilt over past behaviour.
3. Picture 10-
Description of card: One person is holding his or her head against another person’s
shoulder. The gender of the two persons is not specified.
Frequent plots: Interactions between a male and a female are usually reported in the stories,
which may involve either a greeting or a departure.
4. Picture 16-
Description of card: Blank card.
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 8

Frequent plots: Highly varied stories are reported. Frequent narratives relating to a person’s
life (current marital, personal, and family situation) and less of idyllic, defensive,
catastrophic, and achievement-oriented concerns.

Within administration, two phases exist- (a) conduction phase/ administration phase, and
(b) enquiry phase. The conduction phase investigates three realms- past, present, and future. It
explores what had been happening, what is going on, and what will happen in future in the story.
The enquiry phase is done after the administration of the cards, probing things like whi has been
the hero of the story, etc. After the cards have been administered, scoring and interpretation is
done. Bellak and Abrams (1997) suggest that there are three main levels of interpretation-
descriptive, interpretive, and diagnostic. The descriptive level merely summarizes the story, the
interpretive level extends on the descriptive level to increase its comprehensiveness, and finally
the diagnostic level where an inference is made about the client.

Significance of TAT

TAT has remained a contentious tool that has created a lot of doubts about its reliability
and validity, however, it continues to grow in its use over the past 40 years and has produced fourth
largest number of research studies among other projective techniques. By virtue of being a
projective technique, it has also its merits. It theoretically explores the unconscious realm of the
personality and there are also less chances of faking because of the disguised nature of such
techniques. Another advantage is its larger focus on the personality tapping all of its aspects,
including emotional and interpersonal, and not on the specific traits or attitudes. TAT largely
contains ease of rapport formation, considering it is generally regarded as being inherently
intriguing and nonthreatening due to absence of any ‘wrong’- ‘right’ answers and any direct
questions.

Moreover, TAT also produces responses from clients that are familiar in nature that are
easily understood by even an untrained person, making it advantageous for an experienced
clinician. Since it is not inclined to any school of thought, it is open of interpretation from any
theoretical orientation. Murray’s belief of understanding personality from detailed accounts of
normal beings rather than disordered populations got expression in the development of the study.
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 9

TAT is a wide-band approach, as it is sometimes called, showing potential for providing a

comprehensive evaluation of personality. Therefore, although being concerned with giving insight
into an individual’s fundamental needs and patterns of interaction, it also extends to explore a
much wider range of areas like cognitive styles, inner adjustments, defensive structure, emotional
reactivity, family dynamics, and also areas like creativity and problem-solving skills to a limited
extent. TAT helps in breaking the barriers of consciousness and delve deep into the mysteries of
the unconscious which may otherwise may not be accessible through direct questioning. This
further highlights the importance of using TAT as a measure of assessing personality and
accompaniment of understanding psychological disorders.

Variations of TAT

Children Apperception Test (CAT), designed as a direct extension of TAT, consists of 10

pictures which are suitable for application on children from 3 to 10 years of age (Gregory, 2015).
However, there is no formal scoring system available and no statistical information existing about
its reliability and validity which is of a serious concern. The diagnosis or personality description
is done on the basis of synthesizing 10 variables being recorded for each story, viz., main theme,
main hero, main needs and drives of hero, conception of world, perception of parental,
contemporary and junior figures, conflicts, anxieties, defenses, adequacy of superego, and
integration of ego. CAT-A, the preferred version for younger children, intentionally portrays
animals in human social settings, assuming that they would better relate with them. CAT-H,
containing the human figure, is available for older children.

Senior Apperception Test (SAT) consists of 16 situations, projected on cards, majorly

focuses on themes of helplessness, abandonment, disability, family problems, loneliness,
dependence, and low self-esteem (Gregory, 2015). With very less emphasis on positive
circumstances, SAT has been criticized for stereotyping the elderly and thereby discouraging
active responding on their part.

Limitations of TAT

There are researchers who are hesitant in using TAT because of its possible drawbacks. Since
verbally familiar data is used, some suggest that there is possibility to bias and distort responses in
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 10

comparison to less familiar one. The unstructured nature of TAT might not suit all, causing anxiety
in relation to its use.

The general criticisms of projective techniques also apply to TAT, namely- difficulty in
establishing adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability along with formation of norms
leading to differences in its interpretation, clinician’s own experience and expertise becomes the
last resort due to the presence of generally inadequate standardized administration and scoring,
many of the TAT validity studies have remained equivocal, and sensitivity to situational and
demographic variables along with other abilities has been found. Also, it doesn’t show any increase
in incremental validity in structured environments, instead may reduce it.

TAT fails to be self-sufficient, although it is a versatile tool. It has been put forth that TAT
produces optimal results only when used in a battery of tests or as a type of structured clinical
interview. Furthermore, questions about the parallel relationship between inner fantasies overt
behaviour have been raise. Instead, fantasies might even serve as a compensation for a lack of
certain behaviours.

Practical difficulties like extensive training required and cost-ineffectiveness related to

TAT’s administration and scoring make its use a serious affair. The dependency on intuitive
judgment for interpretation and scoring makes TAT more subjective in its nature, despite efforts
being made to make it more objective. A problem linked to this is the formation of clinicians’ own
intuitive norms based on their experience. For instance, a clinician may overemphasize the
maladjusted patterns found in stories of even well-adjusted people, if continued exposure to clients
with pathological features is gained.

Indian Adaptation of TAT

The Thematic Apperception Test was adapted by Uma Chowdhury (1960) for work in
India, when the inadequacy of the original TAT became apparent for Indian subjects. Attempts
were made to keep the cards as original as possible, without introducing much changes unless it
was essential for its effective use in India.

Considering the two versions of TAT- the European and the Indian one, differences in
social situations were found, particularly the joint family system and religious phantasy
(Chowdhury, 2010). However, no such differences were found in relation to situations such as
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 11

Oedipus situation, aggression, and depression, although they are revealed through different social
media. To show how cards from the original test have been adapted in India, few cards from the
Indian adaptation are briefly described below:

1. Card III, Father and Son-

Murray’s Card VII was replaced by two Indian figures of father and son, where the father
has a superior and authoritarian role, but expresses mixed feelings. Efforts to made the
expressions as ambiguous as possible were made.
2. Card III, Mother and Daughter-
Murray’s original Card VII was modified in terms of Indian ethnic types and social life.
3. Card VII Addl.-
This is an additional card in the Indian adaptation, originally drawn to test the wife’s
resentment against the husband’s attachment towards another woman, but was found
inadequate to find that. It was reconstructed to portray the necessary situation of a joint
family, showing the presence of a sister-in-law and also intended to reveal the sense of
deprivation of love and the jealousy of another woman seen in the usually triangular
situation.

The 14 cards of the Indian adaptation of TAT were applied to 260 individuals belonging to the
lower and upper sections of the Hindu community and to the Muslims, with strict accordance to
the instructions laid down by Murray. Differences with respect to educational background, social
background economic status, and ethical and religious ideals in order to represent a cross section
of Indian society in general. The 3,300 stories collected revealed that the responses, taken as a
whole, quite satisfactorily indicated the inner drives and repressed wishes of the individuals, as
well as fear and anxiety which were shaping their behavior patterns and press elements, differing
with backgrounds. Consequently, this adaptation has been found to be a useful and suitable
measure for Indian subjects, meeting the purpose for which it is designed.

Thematic Apperception Test appears to provide window to the world of unconscious realm
of an individual, which may otherwise might not be accessible through direct means. This
highlights the crucial role played by the unconscious in our lives and personalities through its
manifestations in a disguised manner. The Indian adaptation of TAT allows us to seek benefits of
the original TAT by making it more culturally relevant for the Indian population. Such an attempt
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 12

at understanding personality can have important implications for the people, practice, and future
research in the concerned area. The different derivatives of TAT across cultures give us an
impression of its popularity among the clinicians.

Materials Required

 TAT cards (Indian Version)

 A-4 size sheets (12)
 Pencil & pen
 Consent form
 Socio-demographic form

Preliminaries

Name- Mahima Singh (pseudonym)

Age- 19 years

Gender- Female

Educational Qualification- Under graduation in English Honours from Delhi University

Date of Conduction- 21st September 2018

Time of Conduction- 3.30 P.M.

Place of Conduction- Psychology Laboratory

Procedure

Rapport formation

The subject was called to the psychology laboratory for the conduction of TAT cards. It
was ensured that the subject was seated comfortably. A brief conversation was initiated to establish
rapport with the subject.

Instruction

The following instructions were given to the subject-

THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 13

“This is a test of imagination. I am going to show you some pictures one at a time and your
task will be to make up a story for each. Please tell what has led up to the event shown in the
picture, describe what is happening in the moment, what the characters are feeling and thinking,
and then give the outcome. Write your thoughts as they come to your mind. Do you understand?
You can devote about five minutes to each story. Here’s the picture.”

Conduction

After the subject was called to the laboratory and rapport was established, consent was
taken and socio-demographic details were collected. Instructions were given to the subject
verbatim and was asked for any doubts. The cards were presented one by one and the subject was
to write a story around it in a sheet. The same procedure was repeated for all the cards, presented
in this order- 1, 2, 3GF, 4GF, 5, 6, 7, 7 (Add.), 8, 9, 10, Blank card. After all the cards were
conducted, enquiry was done for the cards where it was necessary by the examiner. Then, an
introspective report was taken to formulate their experience. Once the entire conduction was over,
the subject was thanked and allowed to leave.

Precautions

The following precautions are important to be taken care of-

1. The instructions were given clearly in a non-threatening manner.

2. The room was properly lit and ventilated. It was also ensured that there was no noise
disturbance.
3. Only one card was presented at a time.
4. It was ensured that the cards were kept face down so that the picture on the card wasn’t
visible to the subject and the ambiguity of it was maintained
5. The subject was not disturbed while she was writing. This ensured that her flow of thought
was uninterrupted.

Introspective Report

“It should be recorded instead of asking the subject to write as it sometimes gets difficult
to write down all the things which goes on in their mind. The examiner was pretty patient and
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 14

cooperative all the time which made me feel good and less anxious. The overall experience of this
test was intriguing but also very tiring.”

Experimenter’s Observation

The participant was observed to be anxious about what stories are to be written for the
cards and how will it be evaluated. She took a lot of time for the initial 4-5 cards, approximately
about 15-20 minutes. Also, she seemed to be putting a lot of thought before writing of the story
for these cards. Moreover, after the presentation of almost every card, she asked questions
regarding how and what she should be writing and appeared confused when asked to create stories
as she feels like. In addition to this, it was also noted that for the few initial cards, she always
mentioned that what she is writing is not worth a read or it’s not up to the mark. Particularly, for
the 4th card she said “I don’t like this picture”, and for the 5th card she exclaimed “My God! He’s
killing her”, peculiar observations were made.

Results

The forms for the participant are added in the appendix. Table 1 shows the analysis of the
stories at three levels- descriptive, interpretive, and diagnostic.
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 15

Table 1

Analysis of TAT stories at Descriptive, Interpretive, and Diagnostic Levels.

CARD DESCRIPTIVE INTERPRETIVE DIAGNOSTIC

NUMBER SUMMARY SUMMARY SUMMARY
1. A boy, expected to pursue Pursuing music will make Need for autonomy,
music, honestly shares his his family happy but then and blame avoidance
disinterest to family. he will remain unhappy.
Sadness but eventual
acceptance.
2. Deprived of resources in If the village was more Need for change, and
an agricultural village, resourceful, happiness and autonomy.
people are poor and lack progress could have
growth. Future no different prevailed.
from present.
3. After partition, a powerful If the partition never Need for affiliation,
woman and her daughter happened, such trauma and nurturance, safety and
became helpless. Gained struggle could have security (succorance),
strength to lead a good life. avoided. and achievement.
4. A homosexual man, stuck If publicly accepted his Need for dominance,
in a heterosexual identity, he himself and autonomy, affiliation,
relationship, is ashamed wife would have been blame avoidance, and
and lives unhappily. happier. aggression.
5. A greedy son kills mother If boy was considerate and Need for acquisition
for money and fled helpful, he would have (asocial) and
unashamed. supported & understood his aggression.
mother.
6. People residing in the If people were not helpful, Need for affiliation
Backwaters of Kerala, live everyone would have left and nurturance.
harmoniously and help helpless and in despair.
others in times of floods.
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 16

7. A mother faces dejection If the man showed concern Need for affiliation,
due to his newly married for the mother as for his attention, and respect.
son’s ignorant behaviour. wife, she would not be
upset.
7 (Addn.). Unhappy husband fails to If the man had not gotten Need for autonomy,
unite with beloved, even married, he would have affiliation, and
after divorce from forced been happy with his aggression.
marriage. beloved.
8. The woman finds peace on If the house was not burnt, Need for affiliation,
visiting her shattered the woman would not have succorance, and
house where her family left lonely. emotional support.
died.
9. The man visits mistress for If his sexual relations with Need for sex
satisfying sexual needs, wife were satisfactory, he
though he loves his wife. would have never gone to a
mistress.
10. A homosexual woman If social norms were more Need for autonomy,
feels depressed and lonely accepting, she would not affiliation and social
due to society’s non- have felt depressed and support.
acceptance. trapped.
Blank A person, lost and blank, If the person had clarity Need for autonomy,
Card. stops self from ending life about life, the thought of control, and direction.
due to concern for family. ending life would have
never crossed.
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST 17

Discussion

The subject is placed in a space where two intertwined worlds reside- the ‘outer world’
which appears to be restrictive, dominating, and controlling, and the ‘inner world’ which is marked
by frustration, loneliness, and unhappiness as a result of an inability to express oneself, fulfill one’s
desires, and take own decisions. Such environment challenges the subject’s self-perception of
being loving, caring, considerate, and an educated being who is worthy of respect, attention, and
support. This dichotomous space overrides subject’s ability to stay grounded and secured in her
inner world and pushes her to find comfort, happiness, and her safe zone outside of herself. One
part of her reminds her of the beautiful role she plays in lives of other people and her potential to
withstand every circumstance, but the ‘outer world’ dominantly trivializes this self-faith. This
wandering for finding acceptance, love, and support shows external locus of control, resulting from
the subject’s incapacity to express her true inner self through the medium of environment. Thus, a
dominant theme of society’s role in subject’s life is recognized. Seeking validation, acceptance,
approval, and support from the authority figures and people in one’s community of existence is
sought to feel content and worthy, since the binding outer environment killed the inner capacity to
reflect and enable the person to lead life according to her will and fancy.

In background of this, needs of ‘autonomy’ (Card no. 1, 2, 4, 7 (Addn.), 11, and Blank
Card) and ‘affiliation’ (Card no. 3, 6, 7, 7 (Addn.), 9, and 11) appear most prominent for the
subject. To seek social acceptance and love, it is necessary for the subject to abide by the norms
and expectations of the society and not engage in any action that breaks that perception of
obedience. In order to move away from the shackles of such confinement, the subject seeks
independence in terms of thoughts, feelings, and actions without attachment of fear of judgment
or loss of love. Moreover, despite efforts to conform to the expectations, the subject experiences a
vacuum in her life comprising of a lack of belongingness. This may be attributed to her
unhappiness of not being loved and acknowledged for who she truly is. Also, the resultant
vulnerability demands ‘succorance’ (Card no. 3, 9, and 11) and ‘dominance’ (Card no. 4, 5, and
12) to help in cope with the anxiety acting out of such vulnerability. A ‘change’ (Card no. 2) is
sought by the subject, to explore a new world (a new life) by breaking the monotony.

In assuming relations with other people, the boundaries limiting appeal, expression, and
action makes it difficult for the subject to find spaces of growth in socially defined relationships.
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The subject conforms to the parental authorities and shows love & respect for them but also
disagreement/difference in opinions and piled up frustrated energies makes her re-think such love
and confinement. For example, in Card No. 5, a complete disapproval of mother’s love shows that
any kind of restriction/bondage has exceeded the subject’s level of tolerance, which may worsen
to the level of a murder. However, the subject exercises some control in relationships with
contemporary figures. The primary responsibility of influencing one’s life and that of others is
entrusted within the subject by herself. This can be understood as an attempt to channelize the
drive towards control and dominance (remaining unfulfilled in relation to elders as dictated by
norms) in direction of contemporaries, as rules of conformity become less rigid and clear. A sense
of more power is felt in moulding pathways according to one’s discretion. Moreover, lesser
involvement with junior figures is noticed, viewed as vulnerable and self-involved. This might be
understood as a projection of subject’s own self-centeredness and vulnerability onto children and
thereby, self- justification of not being able to connect with them. However, in Card no. 3, the hero
assumes responsibility of daughter and gains strength to uplift her from the traumatic experience.
This suggests subject’s capacity for love, compassion, and responsibility of other beings,
especially younger ones which gets messed with personal difficulties, restraining the subject from
utilizing this capacity.

The most significant conflict encountered is that between Id and the Superego, reiterating
the central theme dominating the subject’s psyche. For example, conflict between autonomy and
conformity (in Card no. 1, 2, and 8), between grief and strength/sociability (in Card no. 3 and 9),
self-fulfillment and concern for others (in Card no. 5 and 6), and love and non-interference (in
Card no. 7) support the presence of conflicting Id and Superego. Also, in two stories (Card no. 11
and Blank Card), intrapersonal conflicts are identified, becoming severe to an extent of suicidal
ideation and/or attempts. These conflicts cause anxieties of being disapproved, lacking or losing
love, being overpowered and helpless, being lonely or getting deserted, and facing deprivation,
making it more difficult for the subject to find firmness or strike balance in life, leading to distress
and despair. These anxieties become so overwhelming for the subject, that almost no defense
mechanism could help her avoid the resultant crises, and even when used, weak defenses like
displacement & projection (in Card no. 4), acting out (in Card no. 10), and rationalization (in Card
no. 11) are shown.
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Throughout the stories, the superego appears to be strong and appropriate, at times
becoming too severe (in Card no. 1 and 11) and inconsistent (in Card no. 11 and Blank Card) with
the ideas of the subject as expressed. The superego becomes successful in suppressing the Id
impulses and wishes, causing frustration and discontentment for the subject and making
adjustment difficult. The mediating structure of personality, the ego, seems moderately strong
wherein it is able to negotiate between the two structures as per the needs and events, but also
sometimes fail to integrate both of their needs, when Id becomes too powerful (after the bottleneck
point experienced) to be controlled by the superego. As an outcome of this integration, realistic
outcomes were consistently noted causing happiness or unhappiness to the subject. These insights
were brought by were predominantly original, stereotyped, appropriate, complete, and structured
thoughts as revealed by the plots of the stories.

The anxiety and fear of evaluation, on the part of the subject, was evidently noticed,
particularly in the initial few cards. This helps in reiterating the strong role of superego in
repressing the drive towards autonomy and freedom in the subject. Her exclamation in Card no. 5,
“My God! He’s killing her”, suggests the anxiety caused by encountering the unacceptable act of
killing in general and killing mother in particular. Any thought, feeling, or behaviour showing
resistance to established societal norms is discouraged and followed by mild to severe forms of
punishment. Thereby, such impulses are repressed and moved away from one’s awareness. A
cooperative and non-judgmental environment enabled the subject to feel less anxious while writing
stories.

Conclusion

The two most significant needs identified are ‘need for autonomy’ and ‘need for
affiliation’, in context of strong conflict between id and superego. The subject’s ego struggles to
balance the needs of the two, resulting in major anxieties of being disapproved, overpowered &
helpless, and being left lonely.
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References

Chowdhury, U. (2010, June 30). An Indian Modification of the Thematic Apperception Test. The Journal
of Social Psychology, 51(2), 245-263. doi:10.1080/00224545.1960.9922035

Gregory, R. J. (2015). Psychologcial Testing: History, Principles,and Applications (Seventh ed.). Essex:
Pearson Education Limited.

Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). Thematic Apperception Test. In G. Groth-Marnat, & Fourth (Ed.), Handbook of
Psychological Assessment (pp. 477-515). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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