fei75766_ch05_149-178.indd 170  02/06/20 11:22 AM
Part II    Psychodynamic Theories170
outcomes laterinlife.Oneveryrecent example ofthistypeofwork isastudy bya
team atYork University (Bedi, Muller, &Thornback, 2012).
Sixty adults identified ashaving hadhistories ofchildhood physical and/or 
sexual abuse weregiven theThematic Apperception Test(TAT; Murray, 1943). This
iswhat isknown inthefieldasaprojective test,andoperates much likethemore 
well-known Rorschach inkblottest,wherein individuals simply describe what they
seeinambiguous images. Theassumption ofprojective testsisthattesttakers will
“project” unconscious wishes, fantasies, andideas intotheirstories andinterpreta -
tions ofinkblots. Projective testsarealternative ways touncover unconscious aspects 
ofthepersonality. TheTATpresents participants withaseries ofscenes depicting 
people either alone orinsocial interactions thatareambiguous innature. Participants 
areinstructed tolookattheimages andmake upastory about what might behap-
pening inthepicture, what thecharacters might bethinking andfeeling, andwhat the
outcome might be.Because theTATdepicts people inrelationships, itisparticularly 
well-suited toexamining individuals’ object relations.
Theabuse survivors inthisstudy completed theTAT, andtheirstories were
scored forfourobject relations themes: (a)thedegree towhich interpersonal relation -
ships areseenasthreatening versus safe;(b)thelevelofcommitment andemotional 
sharing inrelationships; (c)theability toseetheselfasdistinct from others; and
(d)theaccuracy ofattributions about thecauses ofpeople’s behaviors, thoughts, 
andfeelings. Theparticipants alsocompleted avariety ofmeasures ofmental health, 
including self-esteem andpost-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD).
Theresults showed, much asobject relations theory would predict, thathaving a
tendency toviewpeople andrelationships asmore malevolent, aswellasinvesting less
emotionally inrelationships, wascorrelated withgreater symptoms ofPTSD andlower 
self-esteem inthese abuse survivors. Thissuggests thatsuchpeople withtraumatic 
childhoods seeother people asdangerous andrejecting andthismayresult inthedevel -
opment within themselves ofafeeling ofshame andunworthiness. Treating suchindi-
viduals effectively likely requires awareness thateventhetherapeutic relationship might 
beimpacted bydisturbed object relations. Astheresearchers write, “Trauma survivors 
havehadpersonal relationships asacause oftheirpain. Thus, itiscrucial forclinicians 
working withsurvivors ofabuse totarget presenting symptoms ofpsychopathology 
through arelational perspective” (Bedi, Muller, &Thornback, 2012, p.6).Enabling 
trauma survivors tolearn newways thatothers canrespond tothem  positively, say
these researchers, canchange theirobject representations inhealthy ways.
Attachment Theory and Adult Relationships
Attachment theory asoriginally conceptualized byJohn Bowlby emphasized therela-
tionship between parent andchild. Since the1980s, however, researchers havebegun 
tosystematically examine attachment relationships inadults, especially inromantic 
relationships.
Aclassic study ofadult attachment wasconducted byCindy Hazan andPhil
Shaver (1987), whopredicted thatdifferent types ofearly attachment styles would dis-
tinguish thekind, duration, andstability ofadult loverelationships. More specifically, 
these investigators expected thatpeople whohadsecure early attachments withtheir
caregivers would experience more trust, closeness, andpositive emotions intheirFinal PDF to printer