Richard M. O'Neill

Parental perceptions and psychopathology.

Various theories of personality and psychopathology hypothesize that there should be a relationship between parental perceptions and level of psychopathology. However, there has been relatively little research investigating the parental perceptions-psychopathology relationship, and much of the research in this area has been methodologically flawed. The present study tested four hypotheses regarding the parental perceptions-psychopathology relationship, using a parental representations measure that circumvents many of the problems that have characterized previous research on this topic. Results indicated that psychiatric patients (N = 66): a) viewed both parents more negatively than did members of a matched sample of 66 normal subjects; b) expressed significantly greater ambivalence regarding both parents than did normal subjects; and c) described both parents at a more primitive conceptual level than did normal subjects. As predicted, there was a parallel relationship between perceptions of the parents and overall level of psychopathology within the inpatient sample. The findings are discussed in the context of traditional trait-oriented personality theories as well as more recent social learning theories of personality.

Autonomic arousal, interpersonal climate, and orality.

Electrodermal responses in male subjects who gave at least four oral-dependent Rorschach responses (n = 15) or no more than two such responses (n = 19) were assessed both before and after the subjects had either a warm, friendly interaction or a cold, unfriendly interaction with a confederate. There were no group differences on initial baseline measurements. Following a 10-minute warm or cold interaction, there was significant three-way interaction (Period X Condition X Orality) in tonic conductance, p less than .003. Analysis of the three-way interaction produced one simple effect: Highly oral subjects responded differentially to warm or cold treatment by the confederate, p less than .018. Three groups--nonorals in either condition and orals in the condition--increased in physiological arousal over time. Only the highly oral subjects interacting with the warm confederate showed no such increase in arousal, presumably because the presence of a warm, interested other inhibits physiological activation.

Oral-Dependence and Gender: Factors in Help-Seeking Response Set and Self-Reported Psychopathology in Psychiatric Inpatients

Psychoanalytic theory suggests that orality and being female are positively related to adopting a help-seeking stance in the world. This may result in inflated scores on self-report psychological tests. These hypotheses were investigated using Rorschach-based, oral-dependence scores (Masling, 1986), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) help-seeking F minus K index (Gough, 1950; Meehl, 1951), and the MMPI clinical and supplementary scales. High orals are found to be more likely than low orals to adopt a help-seeking response set which in turn results in inflated scores on a number of MMPI clinical scales. Contrary to stereotypes, women are no more likely than men to be help seeking or oral dependent. Several other significant findings, including that orality is positively related to MMPI Scale 2 (Depression) scores for women, not men, are also discussed.

Construct validity of the Rorschach Oral Dependency (ROD) scale: Relationship of ROD scores to WAIS‐R scores in a psychiatric inpatient sample

Three-hundred and two psychiatric inpatients (166 women and 136 men) completed Masling, Rabie, and Blondheims Rorschach Oral Dependency (ROD) Scale and the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R). As predicted, ROD scale scores were unrelated to WAIS-R scores in subjects of either sex. These findings support the discriminant validity of the ROD scale as a measure of interpersonal dependency, and suggest that deficits in intellectual ability do not underlie the dependency-related behaviors (e.g., suggestibility, conformity, interpersonal yielding) that are associated with high scores on the ROD scale. Implications of these findings for research on the dependency-academic performance relationship are discussed, and suggestions for future studies assessing the convergent and discriminant validity of the ROD scale are offered.

Construct validity of a self-report measure of alexithymia in a psychiatric inpatient sample

This study examined the construct validity of a widely used self-report measure of alexithymia in a mixed-sex sample of 101 psychiatric inpatients (62 women and 39 men). Contrary to expectations, scores on Shipko and Noviellos (1984) alexithymia scale (SNALEX) were: (1) correlated positively with a Rorschach index of verbal productivity; (2) unrelated to a Rorschach index of adaptive use of fantasy; (3) correlated negatively with scores on the MMPI L and K scales and correlated positively with scores on the MMPI F scale; and (4) correlated negatively with subject age. In addition, SNALEX scores were correlated negatively with scores on Klieger and Kinsmans (1980) alexithymia scale (KKALEX) in subjects of both sexes. These results do not support the construct validity of the SNALEX as a measure of alexithymia is psychiatric inpatients.