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Lüscher color test

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Not to be confused with Von Luschan's chromatic scale.

The Lüscher color test is a psychological test invented by Max Lüscher in Basel, Switzerland, first published in 1947 in German and first translated to English in 1969. The simplest form of the test instructs a subject to order a series of 8 colors in order of preference. This test claims that the order of preference can reveal characteristics of the subject's personality. The simplicity of the test has allowed it to be heavily tested.

History

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Lüscher developed his color test during his doctoral studies at the University of Basel. He first published the idea at the first World Congress of Psychology in Lausanne in 1947 and later as his thesis in 1949, titled "Color as a Psychological Means of Examination".[1][2] After expanding and publishing his ideas throughout the next 2 decades, the test gained widespread popularity as it was first translated to English in the 1969 + 1971 editions.[3]

Methodology

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In the simple (short, or 8-color) test, as published in 1969,[3] a subject is presented with 8 cards, each containing a color. The colors include 4 "basic" (blue, yellow, red, green) and "auxiliary" (violet, brown, grey, and black) colors. The subject is instructed to select the color that they "like best" or "feel the most sympathy" toward. This selection is performed iteratively with the remaining colors until all the colors have been ordered by preference. The order is recorded, with each color corresponding to a numerical value, 0-7.

A series of symbols are applied to the results (in pairs) to indicate the subject's relationship to the color, where:

Symbol Relationship Choice
+ strong preference 1st & 2nd
× sympathetic 3rd & 4th
= indifference 5th & 6th
− rejection 7th & 8th

For each symbol, the color pair can then be analyzed individually. For example, +0+7 (a strong preference for gray and black) indicates that the subject:

...feels he has been unjustly and undeservedly treated and betrayed in his hopes [and is] disgruntled and in revolt against his existing circumstances which he considers and affront.

Finally, a 5th pair comprising the first and last colors can be analyzed (e.g. +0-5). Each combination gives a percentage for how often it was chosen in Lüscher's prior tests of 36,892 students. Stars are also sometimes indicated, where a high number of accumulated stars can be interpreted as a potential psychological disorder. The test can then be repeated. If the second test run differs from the first, it is assumed that the latter is more spontaneous and therefore more authentic.[3]

Alternatively, the full test can also be used, but this was only published by Lüscher in German and was not included as part of the initial English translations.[4]

Psychological basis

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Lüscher believed that sensory perception of color is objective and universally shared by all, but that color preferences are subjective, and that this distinction allows subjective states to be objectively measured by using test colors. Lüscher believed that because the color selections are guided in an unconscious manner, they reveal the person as they really are, not as they perceive themselves or would like to be perceived.

Lüscher believed that personality traits could be identified based on one's choice of color. Therefore, subjects who select identical color combinations have similar personalities. In order to measure this, he conducted a test in which subjects were shown 8 different colored cards and asked to place them in order of preference. Colors are divided between "basic" (blue, yellow, red, green) and "auxiliary" (violet, brown, grey, and black).

Colors Meanings[5][6]
Blue "Depth of feeling" passive, concentric, tranquility, calm, tenderness
Green "Elasticity of will" passive, concentric, defensive, persistence, self-esteem/assertion, pride, control
Red[a] "Force of will" excentric, active aggressive, competitive, action, desire, excitement, sexuality
Yellow "Spontaneity" excentric, active, projective, aspiring, expectancy, exhilaration
Violet "Identification" unrealistic/wishful fulfillment, charm, enchantment
Brown Bodily senses, indicates the body's condition
Black Nothingness, renunciation, surrender or relinquishment
Grey Non-involvement and concealment

After subjects placed the cards in order from most liked to least liked, they were asked to evaluate the extent to which their personalities matched the descriptive statements formed by Lüscher of each color.

The results of the Lüscher color diagnostic contain indications pertaining to personal assessment and special, professional recommendations as to how psychological stress and the resulting physical symptoms can be avoided. It also offers additional information for verbal and homeopathic therapy.

Criticism

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The test ranks high on a published list of discredited procedures in psychology.[7][8] It lacks construct validity and is considered as example of the Barnum effect,[9] where an ostensible personality analysis (actually consisting of vague generalities applicable to the majority of people) is reported to be accurate by subjects who had completed a personality test before reviewing their "results". A 1984 comparison of the Lüscher color test and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) found little agreement between the two tests, prompting the authors to urge cautious use of the former.[10] Some still stand up for the Lüscher color test as providing high accuracy in a non-verbal test involving as few as eight colors, especially in children,[11] even though the majority of the scientific community puts it high on discredited tests lists.[7]

Most validation studies do not find the Lüscher color test to be meaningful,[12][13] but one validation study has recommended it as a possible pre-screening for Taylor–Johnson Temperament Analysis.[14]

The original English translation contains an extensive bibliography supporting the test. However, an analysis of the references found that many of them do not even exist.[4]: 4 

Applications

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The Lüscher color test has been applied to the assessment of criminality.[15]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ The color is often called orange-red and is described as being more orange than red, despite the affective values applied to it being inline with associations with true red in other studies.[4]: 7 

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Biography". Max Lüscher Foundation. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  2. ^ Lüscher, Max (1949). Die Farbe als psychologisches Untersuchungsmittel (PhD thesis).
  3. ^ a b c Lüscher, Max (1969). The Lüscher Color Test. Translated by Scott, Ian. Random House. ISBN 0671780735.
  4. ^ a b c Melhuish, Peter William (1973). An investigation of the Lüscher colour test (MA in Psychology thesis). doi:10.14288/1.0101351.
  5. ^ Hoss, Robert and Hoffman, Curtiss. Does Dream Color Reflect Emotion? A Long Term Journaling study Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine(pdf), International ASD Psiber Dreaming Conference 2004, International Association for the Study of Dreams.
  6. ^ "The Lüscher Color Test". Sewanee University. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b Norcross, John; Koocher, Gerald; Garofalo, Ariele (1 October 2006). "Discredited psychological treatments and tests: A Delphi poll". Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 37 (5): 515–522. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.37.5.515.
  8. ^ Koocher, Gerald; McMann, Madeline; Stout, Annika; Norcross, John (25 April 2014). "Discredited Assessment and Treatment Methods Used with Children and Adolescents: A Delphi Poll". Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. 44 (5): 722–729. doi:10.1080/15374416.2014.895941. PMID 24766155. S2CID 5009628.
  9. ^ Holmes, Cooper B.; Buchannan, Jo Ann; Dungan, David S.; Reed, Teresa (1986). "The Barnum effect in Luscher color test interpretation". Journal of Clinical Psychology. 42 (1): 133–136. doi:10.1002/1097-4679(198601)42:1<133::AID-JCLP2270420122>3.0.CO;2-7. ISSN 1097-4679.
  10. ^ Holmes, C. B.; Wurtz, P. J.; Waln, R. F.; Dungan, D. S.; Joseph, C. A. (1984). "Relationship between the Luscher Color Test and the MMPI". Journal of Clinical Psychology. 40 (1): 126–128. doi:10.1002/1097-4679(198401)40:1<126::AID-JCLP2270400123>3.0.CO;2-A. PMID 6746918.
  11. ^ Badalian, L. O.; Mastiukova, E. M.; Korabel'Nikova, E. A. (1995). "The use of the Lüscher color test for assessing the emotional status of children and adolescents with an organic central nervous system lesion and borderline psychopathology". Zhurnal Nevrologii I Psikhiatrii Imeni S.S. Korsakova. 95 (5): 44–47. PMID 8585376.
  12. ^ Braun, Claude M. J.; Bonta, James L. (1979). "Cross-Cultural Validity, Reliability, and Stimulus Characteristics of the Luscher Color Test". Journal of Personality Assessment. 43 (5): 459–60. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa4305_3. PMID 512812.
  13. ^ Picco, Richard D; Dzindolet, Mary T (2016). "Examining the Lüscher Color Test". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 79 (3 Pt 2): 1555–8. doi:10.2466/pms.1994.79.3f.1555. PMID 7870544. S2CID 2020521.
  14. ^ Donnelly, Frank A (2016). "The Luscher Color Test: A Validity Study". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 44: 17–18. doi:10.2466/pms.1977.44.1.17. S2CID 147407189.
  15. ^ Lie, Nils; Ford, C. V. (1988). "Boys who became offenders". Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 77 (S342): 1–122. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1988.tb10569.x. PMID 3044011. S2CID 24933249.
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