INFOGRAPHIC 11.3: Examining the Unconscious: Projective Personality Tests

The psychoanalytic perspective holds that some aspects of personality exist beneath conscious awareness. Projective personality tests seek to uncover these characteristics. Ideas and anxieties in the unconscious will appear in descriptions of ambiguous stimuli, revealing previously hidden conflicts that the test administrator can evaluate.

Credits: Various black and white picture cards depicting an emotional situation, for the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), © Spencer Grant/PhotoEdit — All rights reserved; Rorschach-Inkblot-Test Sheila Terry/Science Source