Size of Human Figures Drawn before and after Stress

Abstract

This study measured the effect of a real stress, the announcement of impending heart surgery, on the size of the human figure. The H-T-P was administered before and after the announcement of the operation, with matched controls being told they would not need the operation (Ns = 10). While the individual variation in coping styles obscured group differences, there was a trend for post-stress drawings by the operated group to be larger than their pre-stress drawings.