Corresponding Author Information: Karary X. Gonzalez
Session Abstract: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The defense mechanism of intellectualization has long been written about within the psychoanalytic literature (A. Freud, 1936/1946; Howe, 1934). However, the empirical examination of this defense has been limited. Exner described intellectualization as a “naïve form of denial… it is a pseudo-intellectual process that conceals and/or denies the presence of affect and, as a result, tends to reduce the likelihood that feelings will be deal with directly and/or realistically” (Exner, 1993, p.440). Exner created the Intellectualization Index for his Rorschach Comprehensive System, calculated as (2AB+Art+Ay) such that elevated index scores reflect “an individual prone to respond in a highly intellectualized, pseudo-intellectual or pedantic manner” (Meyer et al., 2013, p.367). In the R-PAS, Exner’s Intellectualization Index was recast as Intellectualized Content (IntCont).
This paper, based on the first author’s dissertation, uses intellectualization in Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) protocols to examine the theory that intellectualization as manifested in intellectualized Rorschach content (IntCont), is associated with affect restraint and inhibition.
SUBJECTS
Subjects were a culturally diverse group of 190 adult, community volunteers from Central California.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
Subjects completed the Rorschach Inkblot Test (R-PAS method), Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence│ Second Edition (WASI-II), the Personality Assessment Screener (PAS) and a demographic questionnaire. Examiners were closely supervised doctoral students in clinical psychology.
ANALYSES
This study analyzed archival data utilizing nonparametric correlations and Spearman rank-order post-hoc exploratory analyses.
RESULTS
Intellectualization associated with affected restraint in the Rorschach and the Negative Affect scale of the PAS were primarily examined. Additionally, this paper examines the relationship between IntCont, its components and intelligence. Finally, intellectualization (IntCont) as an obsessive-compulsive defensive strategy was examined with regard to protocol complexity.
CONCLUSION
Data analysis is ongoing.
REFERENCES
Exner, J. E. (1993). The Rorschach: A comprehensive system, Vol. 1, Basic foundations and the principles of interpretation (3rd ed.). Wiley.
Freud, A. (1946). The ego and the mechanisms of defence. International University Press. (Original work published 1936).
Howe, E. G. (1934). Compulsive thinking as a castration equivalent. The Psychoanalytic Review, 21, 542. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8341.1929.tb01399.x
Mihura, J. L., Meyer, G. J., Dumitrascu, N., & Bombel, G. (2013). The validity of individual Rorschach variables: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the comprehensive system. Psychological bulletin 139, 3, 548. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0029406
Presenters:
Karary X. Gonzalez, MA | Alliant International University - Fresno
Robert Harris, PhD | Alliant International University – Fresno
Karary X. Gonzalez
Karary X. Gonzalez is a United States Army veteran, having served from 2005-2012. He completed his Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling in 2017. He is currently a student in the CSPP – Fresno Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program in clinical psychology. Mr. Gonzalez has completed practicum training in an outpatient mental health clinic, Forensic settings, and at the VA Central California Health Care System. This paper is based on Mr. Gonzalez’s dissertation.
Dr. Robert H. Harris
Professor, Doctor of Psychology Program in Clinical Psychology, Alliant International University - Fresno