A comparison of the Hand Test results of Finnish and Lithuanian school children

Remigijus Bliumas,Marketta Windgren

doi:10.15388/psi.22.4424

Abstract

Although the Hand Test (HT) scores should be cautiously approached when using individuals from different cultures, the quantitative results of Finnish and Lithuanian groups of 13 year old children seem to be in line with Stetson's and Wagner's (1980) hypothesis on potential use of HT in different crosscultural studies. Finnish children scored higher on Exhibition, Active, Tension, Fear subcategories, on Environmental and Maladjustive combined categories, also on Total Number of Responses and Average initial Response Time. Lithuanian children scored higher on Description subcategory. The differences were more marked between the Finnish and Lithuanian girls than between the boys of these nations. The results are fixed as a starting point for /ong-term cross-cultural research.

Highlights

The Hand Test (HT) scores should be cautiously approached when using individuals from different cultures, the quantitative results of Finnish and Lithuanian groups of 13 year old children seem to be in line with Stetson's and Wagner's (1980) hypothesis on potential use of HT in different crosscultural studies
The HT has been used to diverse populations of different ages and clinical groupings and has been shown to successfully differentiate among various clinical groups
No differences were found between the two Arnerican groups

Summary

Introduction

The Hand Test (HT) scores should be cautiously approached when using individuals from different cultures, the quantitative results of Finnish and Lithuanian groups of 13 year old children seem to be in line with Stetson's and Wagner's (1980) hypothesis on potential use of HT in different crosscultural studies. The Hand Test (HT) is a projective technique that uses pictures of hands as the projective me dium It consists of nine cards containing simple line drawings of hands in various positions. The Iranian group scored higher on Dependcnce, Average Initial Response Time, and High Minus Low scorc, and lower on Active and Environ mental, than their American counterparts. The. Chinese groupscored higher onCommunication, Interpersonal, Average Initial Response Time, and High Minus Low score than the Arnerican group.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion