Expressive graphic movements and their relationship to temperament factors.

Abstract

This study has two main purposes: first, a theoretical purpose, that of attempting to contribue to further understanding of the unity of personality through graphic-motor movements; and secondly, to test certain hypotheses relating graphic-motor movements to an aspect of personality known as temperament.It has long been assumed that individual characteristics of gesture and movement reveal personality differences. Often we make judgments about a person by his walk, speech, or posture. We speak about an energetic person when the walk is rapid and there appears to be purpose in his stride. When the bearing is erect, the individual seems to be sure of himself, and we speak of selfconfidence or dominant attitude.

Effects of social class on children's motoric expression.

“…It is no accident, in other words, that constriction-expansiveness emerges as a prominent dimension for characterizing the gestural differences between immigrant Italians and Jews in the Efron and Foley study. Thus, evidence of stability over time or test-retest reliability for various indicators of constriction-expansiveness of movement patterns has been reported by, for example, Allport and Vernon (1933), Talmadge (1958), Wallach, Green, Lipsitt, and Minehart (1962), Wallach and Thomas (1963), and Wallach and Brantley (1968). Regarding pervasiveness or generality of individual differences in motoric constriction-expansiveness, relationships among different kinds of measures have been found in such studies as those by Allport and Vernon (1933), Talmadge (1958), and Taft(1967).…”

Contradiction between overt and projective personality indicators as a function of defensiveness.

“…So also, the test-retest reliabilities obtained in the present investigation of graphic constriction-expansiveness and reported earlier in this paper were quite high. With regard to generality, Allport and Vernon (1933) and Talmadge (1958), among others, again have found relations between various different expressive movement indices. For example, Allport and Vernon obtained relationships between such varied indicators of generalized constriction-expansiveness as area of figures drawn on the blackboard, area of squares drawn with the foot, ratings on amount of movement exhibited during idleness, length of check marks made on paper-and-pencil inventory materials, and length of strides in walking.…”

“…Interestingly enough, Talmadge (1958), in discussing his failure to find relationships between overt personality assessors and such aspects of graphic expression as constrictionexpansiveness, came close to what seems to be the answer to the problem but did not pursue it. Assuming-as we do also-that findings on expressive movement indicate a subject's genuine personality needs, he raised the question of whether it is reasonable for us to expect measures that, unlike expressive movement, are explicitly and overtly personality related, to indicate in like manner the subject's genuine personality needs.…”

“…It has been known for some time that expressive behavior is not random but rather consistent within the individual-both in the sense of test-retest reliability for repeated measurements of the same kind, and in the sense of generality across presumably related but different measures. With regard to testretest reliability, Talmadge (1958), for example, reported that various indices derived from Mira's (1958) graphic technique showed satisfactory reliability upon repeat administration. Allport and Vernon's (1933) work likewise has indicated satisfactory testretest reliabilities for various indices of expressive movement.…”

“…Consider in contrast the negative findings often reported by investigators who have sought to determine relationships between constriction-expansiveness of expressive behavior and overt assessors of personality. The importance of searching for such relationships was underscored by Talmadge (1958), who commented that "Allport and Vernon left off at the most crucial point. They failed to study the relationship between bodily movements and inner personality structure" (p. 3).…”