ABSTRACT
Weisskopf’s (1950) Transcendence Index (TI) was developed as a general measure of the amount of projection present in a thematic apperceptive technique (TAT) narrative when respondents were asked simply to describe a picture. The TI is calculated by scoring the number of ways that a narrative exceeds pure description of the stimuli present in the picture and by using several different scoring categories. Because the TI is an inherently face-valid measure of projection, it has been employed as a standard criterion measure of projection or fantasy in studies examining, for instance, the degree to which similarity between projective stimuli and respondents influences projection. Reports indicate that it can be scored reliably, and, although most studies have used it with children and college students, it is not inherently limited to such populations. Little work has employed the TI in recent decades, and future research might productively investigate the degree to which transcendence is a stable person variable or a state that is dependent on the testing situation or other variables. Research also might assess the degree to which the TI converges with and discriminates between other measures of constriction–dilation on projective tasks and measures of defensiveness on self-report personality inventories.
