Validity indices of the Rorschach test and Personality Assessment Inventory: a comparison in pathological and healthy subjects

The debate about the validity of the Rorschach test, compared with psychometric inventories, is particularly relevant in the forensic evaluation. The aim of the study is to present an overview on the control indices proposed in Rorschach (e.g. R, F%, Lambda Index) and in a personality inventory (Personality Assessment Inventory: e.g., openness, desirability, inconsistency, infrequency, negative and positive impression, malingering and defensiveness, treatment rejection) and to cross-correlate these indices. The sample consisted of 50 adult inpatients with diagnosis of severe depression or psychosis, and a control group of healthy subjects, matched by gender, age and educational level. The results show that the analytic style, as opposed to the global one, is related to greater openness to psychological assessment, less social desirability and defensive tendency. The Rorschach Lambda index demonstrates good validity in detecting tendency to defensiveness, social desirability and dissimulation, both in normal and pathological protocols.