Motivation analysis on the basis of using TAT in two groups of adolescents
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Ceskoslovenska Psychologie/Czechoslovak Psychology |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | thematic apperception test; thematic content analysis; motivation; adolescents |
| Description | Motivation analysis on the basis of using TAT in two groups of adolescents T Urbanek, K. Czekoova, I. Cermak, T. Fikarova, Z. Pokorna Objectives. The purpose of this study was to find whether there are differences between adolescents with and without diagnosed behavioural problems (N=56) in stories evoked by the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Another aim was to introduce five scoring systems novel to our region: need for achievement, affiliation, power, revised power, and uncertainty orientation. Gender differences were addressed as well. Participants and setting: 35 adolescents (16 girls) with and 21 (8 girls) without diagnosed behavioural problems participated in the study. Four TAT stories recorded from each participant were scored by two raters (in a completely randomized order) in a two-phased analysis - independent and consensual - in order to achieve a satisfactory level of agreement. Hypothesis. Different situational variables (e.g. distinct environment, age, gender) bring differing motives into TAT stories by groups of participants. Statistical analyses. The data were analysed by means of cross-tabulations, non-parametric statistics, and cluster analysis. Results. Indicated sufficient inter-rater reliability and promising conclusions concerning the validity of the indices. Specifically, associations between individual motives and incidence of certain behavioural problems in the group with diagnosed behavioural problems were found. Furthermore, differences in the level of affiliation and power motives between girls and boys in both groups were demonstrated. Presented results suggest that employed interpretation systems could be useful in diagnostics despite requiring further validation. Specificities and problems of the textual data scoring are discussed from the perspective of reliability and validity of operant indices which assess implicit motives in contrast to indices based on the questionnaire items. Study limitation. Sample size. |