Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

1988

Thesis Director

Sue B. Stoner

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate age and sex differences in the responses of adolescents to the Hand Test (Wagner, 1962). This instrument was administered to 44 14-year olds (26 males and 18 females), 40 15-year-olds (23 males and 17 females), 45 16-year-olds (19 males and 26 females), and 34 17-year-olds (13 males and 21 females) who were enrolled in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 of a public high school. Data for the 24 Hand Test variables was normalized using a Z-score transformation on the group mean of all subjects to allow for simultaneous analysis of the effects of age, sex, and interactions. Each of the 24 variables was analyzed separately with 4 (Age) X 2 (Sex) analysis of variance. From the results of the analysis of variance, it appeared that there was an age difference for the variable of Exhibition: F = 3.22, p. <.01. However, post hoc analyses involving a oneway test for trends and a Scheffe's multiple comparison found a significant nonlinear trend for this variable: F = 4.78, p. < .03. The Scheffe's comparison indicated that none of the four age group means were significantly different from one another. Thus, the raw score mean for the variable of Exhibition increased across the 14-year-old, 15-year-old, and 16-year-old group, and then decreased at the 17-year-old level.

A significant difference with regard to the main effect of sex of subject was found for the variables of Exhibition and Crippled. Males gave both more Exhibition and Crippled responses. Three Hand Test variables exhibited Age X Sex interactions: Direction, Tension, and Environmental. Fourteen-year-old females gave the most responses scored as Direction, while 14-year-old and 17-year-old males gave the least. With regard to Tension responses, 15-year-old males gave the least responses, and 17-year-old females gave the most. For the Environmental variable, 15-year-old females gave the least responses, and 17-year-old males gave the most.

The small number of sex differences in responses found in this investigation suggests that sex roles may be changing, in that our society is becoming more androgynous, and thus differences in sex roles are becoming less pronounced. The lack of age differences and the small number of interactions found in this study indicates that the personality, as measured by the Hand Test, is relatively stable across the late adolescent years.

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