A comparison of MMPI profiles of four Bender-Gestalt groups.

Abstract

The drawing style that people utilize to reproduce geometric designs relates to their personality. Closure difficulty and edging, two factors in drawing styles, were examined in the literature. Significant relationships to personality were found on several studies dealing with closure difficulty. Trends have been found for edging to occur more often In psychoneurotic populations but not to the point of s1gnlflcance. The subjects consisted of psychiatric patients ranging In age from fifteen to sixty-five years, male or female, admitted to Osawatomie State Hospital. They were given the HMPI and the Bender-Gestalt Test. Subjects who met the criteria of valid MMPI profiles and had all nine figures drawn on the Bender-Gestalt Test were Included In the sample. One hundred protocols were examined for closure difficulty and edge tendencies. This study involved a comparison of the MMPI profiles of four Bender-Gestalt groups: Group 1 (No Closure Difficulty) compared with Group 2 (Closure Difficulty), and Group 3 (Non-edging) compared with Group 4 (Edging). An ANOVA was employed to compare HHPI profiles of the four groups. No significance was found between the HHPI profiles of Group 3 (Non-edging) and Group 4 (Edging). These results were consistent with other findings. There was significance on scale 0, Social Introversion on the HMPI between Group 1 (No Closure Difficulty) and Group 2 (Closure Difficulty). Though the results were significant statistically, the differences were not great enough to Influence clinical interpretation.