Body Boundaries and Field Dependence of Adolescent Girls

Abstract

For 77 adolescent girls (expected by Fisher and Cleveland to form concepts of body as highly differentiated from the environment) estimate of the correlation between body boundaries and Witkin's field dependence was calculated using scores from the Group Embedded Figures test and the Draw-a-Person test (to assess field-independence) and the Rorschach test (Barrier score, to assess body boundaries). Dividing subjects on the basis of scores above and below the median Barrier score of 4, significant correlations were found between Barrier score/Group Embedded Figures test and Barrier score/Draw-a-Person score for High Barrier subjects. No significant correlation was found for subjects with low Barrier scores. Field-independent subjects also had more definite body boundaries. One may then translate body boundaries into terms of field dependence.