You all have likely heard about the Rorschach, the famous inkblot test used by psychologists for nearly a century to assess personality and psychological functioning. It is perhaps the most well-known (and both admired and hated) of all of the projective psychological tests that include projective drawings, word association and sentence completion tests, and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). All provide ambiguous stimuli that requires the subject or patient to impose structure onto it revealing themselves in often unintended ways that they may not fully understand or appreciate. The Rorschach is especially fascinating in that the inkblots are very ambiguous and so when the respondent describes what they think the blots represent or look like, they reveal themselves in uncensored ways.
As a clinical psychologist using projective instruments like the Rorschach for about 35 years I have grown very fond of the instrument in many clinical assessment situations. It is a remarkable test that gets at information often hard to obtain otherwise. However, you may have heard that there is a serious problem with the continued use of the Rorschach. Several years ago the copyright on the instrument expired and now it is completely in the public domain. Therefore, the validity of the Rorschach is severely compromised since anyone can easily see the instrument and learn all about the scoring and interpretation of it with just a few clicks of their computer mouse (see here). Confidentiality, in addition to validity, is terribly compromised. Oh well.
Reflecting on these new problems with the Rorschach made me wonder about a more 21st century projective test... Facebook!
While Facebook is certainly not a valid and reliable projective testing instrument used by psychologists, let’s face it, it is indeed a projective test nonetheless. People often don’t truly realize how they reveal themselves on Facebook with their posts, comments, and shared material. As a psychologist I find this fascinating. Personality and psychological functioning may be assessed by examining Facebook posts. One has to wonder if the research staff at Facebook is well aware of how their social networking product might be used to diagnosis a wide variety of psychological problems and personality traits and tendencies. I assume that Facebook staff are smart and savvy enough to understand this issue and perhaps use it for their advantage.
Thinking about Facebook as a projective test suggests that users might want to stop and think for a minute before posting, sharing, and commenting on Facebook. Ask yourself, what does my comment, post, or share reveal about me as a person? What is the larger issue or trait that I am communicating about myself as I interact with this social media platform? And may I also suggest that before you post or comment you ask the following three important questions: Is it true? Is it fair? Is it kind? And if you happen to have a psychologist around maybe ask them to take a look at it before you post.
In the end, if you filter your posts with both respect and compassion, maybe you will never regret a post, comment, or share on Facebook. And perhaps you will also reveal the best of yourself, and never the worst.
So, what do you think?
Check out my web site at www.scu.edu/tplante and follow me on twitter @ThomasPlante
Copyright 2016, Thomas G. Plante, PhD, ABPP
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