Validity of hypotheses about the father/mother interpretation of Rorschach cards: Tested by using a card selecting method

Abstract

This study tests the validity of hypotheses about the interpretations of Rorschach father/mother cards by having subjects select the cards. The results showed that regardless of the subject's gender, Card IV is far more often selected as the father card. However Card VII is not more often chosen as the mother card, if anything, the Color Cards are usually selected. The result of a correspondence analysis suggest that a certain combination of father and mother cards is more often selected. When the frequency of card selection is applied to the cluster of cards obtained in the study of Fukui et al (2008), the mother card is predominantly selected from the feminine/maternity-cards cluster. However, the father card was selected equally often from three clusters, indicating variation of the father figure. The results indicate the predominance of Card IV as the father card, and also confirm the lack of individuality with Card VII. Therefore, Card IV fulfills prerequisites for the father card hypothesis, while Card VII does not meet the criteria. The results do not support the validity of the hypothesis about the mother card interpretation.