Blots and All: A History of the Rorschach Ink Blot Test in Britain

Abstract

Despite the easily recognizable nature of the Rorschach ink blot test very little is known about the history of the test in Britain. We attend to the oft-ignored history of the Rorschach test in Britain and compare it to its history in the US. Prior to the Second World War, Rorschach testing in Britain had attracted advocates and critiques. Afterward, the British Rorschach Forum, a network with a high proportion of women, developed around the Tavistock Institute in London and The Rorschach Newsletter. In 1968, the International Rorschach Congress was held in London but soon after the group became less exclusive, and fell into decline. A comparative account of the Rorschach in Britain demonstrates how different national institutions invested in the 'projective hypothesis' according to the influence of psychoanalysis, the adoption of a nationalized health system, and the social positioning of 'others' throughout the twentieth century. In comparing and contrasting the history of the Rorschach in Britain and the US, we decentralize and particularize the history of North American Psychology.

Queer signs: The women of the British projective test movement

“…Psychological understandings of homosexuality therefore continued to be especially focused around gender roles and theoretical “inversions” like those first proposed by Ellis (see Minton, , ). The Second World War acted as a catalyst for projective testing in the United States, though the British military engaged with projective testing much less (see Capshew, 1999; Buchanan, ; Shephard , ; Hubbard & Hegary, ). One reason for its greater use in the United States was that officer screening included Rorschach testing in order to identify those who were gay and those who were malingering as gay (Bérubé, , ; Hegarty, ).…”

“…The British projective test movement on the other hand did not engage with research about homosexuality in the same way or to the same extent as the United States (see Hubbard & Hegarty, ). However, that is not to say some significant work did not occur, for example Barker (), studied 12 “female homosexuals.” Barker () argued that the Rorschach responses of one young woman “who was deeply involved in a homosexual relationship” was illustrative of her sado‐masochism, which she fulfilled by escaping her lesbian relationship to “seek the most debased sexual experiences she could find.” Deeply entrenched in psychoanalytic ideas of sexuality, Barker () attempted to clarify that homosexuality itself is not pathological; nonetheless, criteria for participation in his study included patients’ willingness to accept that their lesbianism had played a part in their illness…”

“…It is also central in Minton's (2002) theorizing about emancipatory science, which I will return to shortly. Later, such content analysis fell out of favor as Exner's "comprehensive system" dominated Rorschach analysis (Exner, 1969(Exner, , 1975 The British projective test movement on the other hand did not engage with research about homosexuality in the same way or to the same extent as the United States (see Hubbard & Hegarty, 2016). However, that is not to say some significant work did not occur, for example Barker (1970), studied 12 "female homosexuals."…”

“…Sangster () argued that despite the shift from women's history to gender history both are required and that more inclusive approaches that involve sexuality, among other factors, should be used. There is therefore not only a need to continue to replace women in this history of Psychology generally, but to replace women within the projective test movement in particular, as women were so prominent within this scene (Hubbard & Hegarty, ; McCarthy Woods, ).…”

“…By foregrounding the life and work of June Hopkins, who conducted research about lesbian women using projective methods, I shift the gaze from those who were studied, onto those who were doing the studying. Hegarty () and Hubbard and Hegarty () outlined queer history in the United States and Britain in relation to what kinds of projective studies were conducted on queer people. Here I focus on the lives of British women psychologists themselves (see also Hubbard, in press).…”