The Soul Image: Anima and Animus as Projected in the Rorschach Test

Summary

According to Jung anima and animus are functions, themselves largely unconscious, mediating between the ego and the deeper unconscious. Their manifestations in projection (also in dream, myth, etc.) are called the soul image. The soul image and the functions which it represents usually have sexual characteristics contrary to those of the conscious personality and are compensatory and complementary thereto.

Kinaesthetic responses in the Rorschach test are generally regarded as carriers of projections from the unconscious. Therefore, when personality imbalance and increased liability to projection occur as in neurosis, the proportion of contrasexual Ms should be larger in neurotic than in normal groups. Using four groups containing each 100 adult subjects: healthy women, neurotic women, healthy men and neurotic men, the hypothesis was tested and confirmed, affording some confirmation to Jungian theory.