Object Representation in the Rorschach Inkblot Technique and Its Relationship to Pornography Use: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Pornography continues to be a heated social and moral exchange in numerous and varied ways. There is an ever-expanding body of research with conflicting empirical evidence regarding the positive and negative effects of pornography. This pilot study hypothesizes that the Rorschach can provide evidence that early exposure to pornography, prolonged exposure to pornography, and frequent use of pornography affects a person’s object representations. Over the past century Herman Rorschach’s seminal projective test has developed into an ideal database for assessing the representational world – the conception of others, the self, interpersonal behavior, and relational patterns. This work uses an archival data set of psychological evaluations for applicants to the novitiate in a Catholic religious order. Information regarding respondent pornography exposure and use was collected from the psychosexual interview and respondent object representations were determined by the Rorschach assessment results. Correlational analyses did not show any significant relationships between pornography exposure or use and object representation. In part, the study was limited by a smaller sample size than anticipated due to the nature of an archival data set. Some necessary information was not collected during the psychosexual evaluations and nonquantitative responses resulted in the exclusion of data. It was also limited by a restriction of range in both the respondents’ reported pornography use and the Rorschach content code scores. Recommendations are made for replicating and expanding the study with a larger, heterogeneous group and additional variables. Consideration is given for the interrelationship of autoerotism, pornography use, and their possible effects on object representation.