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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–4Cite as

Rorschach, Hermann

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Introduction

Hermann Rorschach (8 November 1884–1 April 1922) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He is best known for creating the Rorschach’s inkblot method, which has been one of the most widely used psychological tools to explore individual’s personality, particularly by clinical psychologists.

Early Background and Education

Hermann Rorschach was born in 1884 in Zurich, as the oldest of the three children to his parents (his siblings were Anna and Paul). He grew up in Schaffhausen, a small town close to Zurich. His mother, Philippine, passed away due to diabetes when Hermann was age 12. His father, Ulrich, was a skillful painter and worked as a painting and drawing teacher for a middle school outside of Zurich. After his wife’s death, he remarried with his wife’s sister, Regina, and had together one daughter named after her mother. He passed away when Hermann was age 18, due to a neurological disorder induced perhaps by lead poisoning (Searls 2017).

Hermann Rorschach...

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References

  • Exner, J. E. (2003). The Rorschach. A comprehensive system. Volume I: Basic foundations and principles of interpretation (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.

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  • Frank, L. K. (1939). Projective methods for the study of personality. The Journal of Psychology, 8, 389–413.

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  • Meyer, G. J., & Eblin, J. J. (2012). An overview of the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS). Psychological Injury and Law, 5, 107–121.

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  • Meyer, G. J., Viglione, D. J., Mihura, J. L., Erard, R. E., & Erdberg, P. (2011). A manual for the Rorschach Performance Assessment System. Toledo: R-PAS.

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  • Rorschach, H. (1921). Psychodiagnostics (trans: Hans Huber Verlag, 1942). Bern: Bircher.

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  • Rorschach, H. (1924/1964). Psychodiagnostics: a diagnostic test based on perception, including Rorschach’s paper. The application of the form interpretation test (published posthumously by Emil Oberholzer). Berne: H. Huber.

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  • Searls, D. (2017). The inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, his iconic test, and the power of seeing. Broadway Books.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Albert and Jessie Danielsen Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Nicolae Dumitrascu

Authors
  1. Nicolae Dumitrascu
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Correspondence to Nicolae Dumitrascu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Chris Ditzfeld

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Dumitrascu, N. (2019). Rorschach, Hermann. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1981-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1981-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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