The "Unfinished Sentences" test in psychology is practiced when it becomes necessary to identify and study certain attitudes of a person, and not only those that are conscious of him. This technique can help to understand what an individual experiences in relation to himself, his parents, family, society, life goals. It is effective, but has some specifics.
Principles of the methodology
The Pending Sentences test is based on the concept of free association. It is she who allows you to identify problems of an interpersonal and individual nature, to determine the internal experiences of a person, his propensity for diseases related to nervous disorders. And the test itself is not difficult. Even a preschool child can handle it. It can even be called interesting.
How is it carried out? The respondent is given a form with unfinished sentences. There are 60 by default, but there may be a different number if the test is compiledindividually for any group of people or one person.
All unfinished sentences are related to certain aspects of life, of which there are 15 in total. These are attitudes towards oneself, past, future, subordinates, friends, father, mother, family, superiors, colleagues and members of the opposite sex. Aspects also include guilt, anxiety (fears), goals, and intimate relationships.
On the standard test, there are four unfinished sentences for each "category". And the person who is invited to go through it must complete the started phrases in free form and as quickly as possible, almost without thinking and focusing only on their emotions and feelings.
Examples
You can understand what the "Unfinished Sentences" test is after reading a few examples taken from it.
Here are two phrases: "If everyone is against me, then …" and "When I'm unlucky, I …". They are responsible for the attitude of the respondent to himself. The phrase "I would do anything to forget …" is a reference to guilt. But the sentence “My fears made me more than once…” has to do with fears and anxieties.
In principle, the original test can be done among teenagers. It's only better to omit the unfinished sentences of a sexual nature, since there is something about intimacy (“My sex life …”) and marriage in general. Phrases related to the topic of superiors can be transformed. In the sentence "When my boss approaches me…" the last wordquite harmoniously replaced by "teacher". Otherwise, the test is nothing special, so it can be administered to respondents of all ages.
Detection of suicidal intent
Most often it is for this purpose that the “Unfinished Sentences” technique among teenagers is used. Unfortunately, in our time it is relevant.
In order to detect suicidal intentions in students of such unstable age, it is necessary to transform the standard test and reduce the number of questions. There can be 28 of them, among which only 4 will be thematic, but veiled. Here’s how they might sound: “Tomorrow I…”, “The day will come when…”, “I want to live because…”, “When I finish school…”.
Of course, it is unlikely that anyone will cross out the third question from the list and write about the absence of the meaning of existence as such. But even by a completely ordinary answer, you can determine whether everything is in order with a teenager. He may write: "The day will come when I will finally be happy." And this will be a wake up call. If he formulated the continuation of the phrase in this way, then, most likely, something is bothering him. And this cannot be ignored.
School variant
As mentioned earlier, the standard version can be changed. Unfinished sentences for younger students should sound as simplified as possible. Here is an example of what they can be: “In my studies I see …”, “At school I …”, “Our class …”, “My classmates …”. These unfinished sentences for schoolchildren are clear and simple. But, based on their answers, one can understand the personal specifics of each.
Let's say a student continued the above phrases like this: “In my studies, I see an opportunity to gain new knowledge. At school, I listen to the teacher and try to do assignments. Our class is not very good. My classmates love to laugh at me.” Well, these answers make it clear that the child likes to go to school, as he sees this as an opportunity for self-improvement and development of his abilities. But he is not satisfied with the nature of the relations that have developed with his classmates. There may be a lack of communication and feelings of inferiority.
What to do with the results?
They are processed and interpreted by a qualified specialist who is well acquainted with the "Unfinished Sentences" test. It will not be difficult for a person who has encountered this technique for the first time, but it will take a lot of time.
And the principle is simple. For each category of proposals, a characteristic has been developed that defines the system of relations under consideration as neutral, positive or negative. If a positive mood is seen in the continuation of the respondent, then zero is put opposite the answer. See more neutrality? Then it's a unit. But continuations with a negative character are marked with a deuce.
It is important to note that the "Unfinished Sentences" technique (for teenagers and not only) involves the interpretation of answers by groups. Let the phrases and mixed in the form, but they process them four by one, combining them into a single category.
Interpretation
As an example, we can take a category of sentences, the continuation of which is intended to understand the attitude of the respondent to his own abilities. Suppose a teenager answered this way: “When circumstances are against me, I begin to work tirelessly. I consider myself capable of anything if I want to. My biggest weakness is the endless craving for new knowledge. When I'm unlucky, I work hard to get what I want, no matter what. Such answers are considered good. If a teenager gave similar continuations to the proposed phrases, then he is confident in himself, and he is able to overcome obstacles.
It is worth giving an example of a negative interpretation. You can refer to a group of sentences about goals. Suppose a teenager gave them this continuation: “I always wanted to kill someone. I would find happiness by being completely alone. My dream is to go to a desert island. What I want most in life is for no one to touch me.” And in this case, even the method of incomplete sentences is not needed to understand the hostile and pessimistic essence of the respondent. To the naked eye, you can see that he is an unrealistically thinking deep introvert who rejects society.
What can we find out?
The "Unfinished Sentences" technique for teenagers and people of other ages is a way to express your essence. The main thing is that the respondent is initially set up for this, since trust and disposition towards the test is important.
According to the results of the interpretation of the results, it is possible to find out the areas in which negative, neutral and positive attitudes predominate.
Also, in practice, there were cases when the test helped to reveal the presence of a mental illness in a respondent. These are situations of a specific nature, since psychiatrists are involved in them. First of all, the main areas of disorder and conflict are identified. Then the relationship between the personal attitudes of a person is determined. And after that, the so-called personality structure is determined. It turns out what is his degree of response, emotional adaptation, maturity, level of reality, conflict.
Feature of the technique
All of the above really helps to figure out the test. Why? Because there are no prepared options and right or wrong answers. The person responds like a spirit. He does not think and does not analyze how to answer him in order to hide some aspect of his personality. It becomes open, and this allows the psychologist to understand its essence. That is why the Unfinished Sentence Test for teenagers should be done regularly. Indeed, at school, at such a difficult age, it is extremely important to monitor the internal development of children.
