A sentence completion technique as a measure of level IV behavior with the interpersonal checklist

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a forced-choice sentence completion form as a measure of avoided behavior, designated as Level IV, in the Leary diagnostic system. Based on the result of a pilot study, a series of hypotheses were formulated to comply with the theoretical Leary system and to further investigate relationships of behavior and perceptions of parents. Three groups of 25 subjects each were used in the study. The first group was made up of drug abusers, the second of psychiatric patients, and the third constituted a normal control group. The groups were matched for sex, age, race, and family income. All subjects were administered one of the sentence completion forms and a complete Leary test battery. The results of the study indicate that this sentence completion form is a useable measure of the Level IV of avoided behavior for the Leary score. In addition, the study lends support to the levels hypothesis of the Leary system. Although there was variation found between the groups, it appears that the perception of parents is an important factor in the choice of partners and in the perception of others. The most divergent group in the study were the drug abusers whose opposionality appears to be a factor in their perception and style of interactions.