Fisher and Cleveland Barrier and Penetration Body-Image Scores, Self-Steering Style, and Academic Achievement

Abstract

Barrier and penetration Rorschach scores were defined by Fisher and Cleveland in 1968 as a bipolar dimension which was assumed to assess a “self-steering” approach to life and so to successful achievement. The present study of two samples of students examined correlations among the two Rorschach scores, self-steering attributes, and academic performance. Barrier and penetration scores were significantly negatively correlated, consistently associated with academic performance but not significantly associated with “self-steering” attributes. Barrier and penetration scores were consistently significantly associated with state anxiety. These results are discussed in terms of how they fit with propositions about barrier and penetration scores as assessments of firmness of body-image.