Assessment of "self and other perception" of parents in family court disputes based on the Giessen Test

30 couples were assessed using the Giessen-Test in regard to their self-images and how they were perceived by their partners. All couples were examined in the course of domestic proceedings at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Childhood and Adolescence (University of Tübingen). Differences between self-image and the partners perception as well as self-image and rating of the partner were worked out. The degree of symmetry and correspondence regarding gender positions and the degree of confirmation/negation of the position were pointed out. No sex differences could be found in regard to role attribution. Sings of sex-specific role perception could not be shown amongst the couples being part of the domestic proceedings. Sex-specific differences in regard to the image as perceived by the other parent do not exist any more. The exact complementary role of ones own role-perception is being attributed to the former partner. The role-characteristics attributed to the former partner can be described as dominant, under-controlled, hypomanic, and inaccessible. Family- and psychodynamic aspects of these results are discussed.