Indicators of aggression in draw-a-man test in 9 years boys

ABSTRACT

Draw-A-Man test [DAM] as projection of a person's inner world can provide information about people interests, anxieties, defenses and inhibitions. The aim of this study was to investigate indicators of aggression in DAM test in primary male school students. In this explanatory study 57 male student in third grade of a primary school of KhorramAbad city were selected by convenience selection. Firstly, according to manual of DAM test, they were asked to draw a person. Then, they were asked to write characters of an aggressive individual, finally they were directed to draw an angry and aggressive person. For the purpose of the study, two drawings were compared with regular TAM. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests such as Sing test, McNemar and Phi correlation coefficient. Data analysis showed that, dark lines, red color, mouth form [as bow down], tilted and knotted eyebrow, baldhead or stiffness of hairs and holding aggressive instrument [especially knife] were significantly more common in aggressive men as aggression sign. These indicators had significant frequency in comparison with regular DAM [P < 0/001]. The results of this study are mainly in accord with other studies about some of aggression indicators. Therefore, the presence of aggression instrument [especially knife] was remarkable in this study. This should be an important issue for families and education authorities, because it is should be related to type of aggressive behaviors which are common in the society