Behavior of delinquents in social conflict situations. A study using the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration Test (PFT)

35 delinquents with chronic dissocial developments and 35 neurotics (of equal sex and age) have been investigated with the Rosenzweig Picture Frustration Test (PFT). The results show a number of significant differences: The dissocial personalities are characterized by a denial of their strong latent guilt-feelings. They experience frustrations generally as a blame and try to remove the unbearable conflicts as soon as possible, especially by developing great activity. A modification of the evaluation of the PFT (differentiation between ego- and super-ego-blocking items) leads to the result that only the test-situations where the subjects are confronted with own fault and blame (super-ego-blocking) show clear differences between neurotics and delinquents. Clusteranalysis with super-ego-reactions to super-ego-blocking items show a great homogenity of the delinquent subjects. The other clusteranalyses lead to 2 subgroups which are interpreted as 2 ways of the delinquents to handle their strong latent guilt-feelings: the subjects of one subgroup show a defiant denial of guilt-feelings with a latent passive resignation; the subjects of the other subgroup emphasize the guilt-feelings, but are unable to take full responsibility, and they show a strong tendency to become active in order to get rid of the guilt-feelings.