Dependency, narcissism and Rorschach: A discussion based on the results of an empirical study

Abstract

In this exploratory study it was evaluated in a small non clinical sample the degree in witch the variables considered by Exner and Sendin (1998) as indicating, according to some values, the presence of dependent characteristics of personality (a low value of the Egocentricity Index (EgoIndex), a high value of the Sum of texture responses (Sum T), a number of passive movement responses higher than the number of active movement responses plus one (p>a+1), the presence of food content responses (Fd>0) and a high number of popular responses (P)), reflect the presence of the dependent personality style defined and studied by Sidney Blatt (1974, 1990, 2004; Blatt, DÁfflitti & Quinlan, 1976; Blatt & Zuroff, 1992). The Rorschach was administer to 20 participants, 10 with a dependent style and 10 without a dependent style, defined by the results on the Portuguese version (Campos 2000a, 2000b) of Blatt et col. (1976, 1979) Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. The Rorschach was administered and coded according to Rorschach Comprehensive System guidelines (Exner, 2003). Only the Egocentricity Index correlated positively and significantly with the presence of dependent style, contrarily to what would be expected following the reference of Exner and Sendin that is a low value of this index that is characteristic of the presence of dependent characteristics. On the basis of this result the author discusses the relationship between dependency and narcissism and also discusses about the mental functioning of the dependent individual. (Campos, 2009, rcampos@uevora.pt)