Sack’s Sentence Completion Test

Personality definition

"Personality is the entire mental organization of a human being at any stage of his

development. It embraces every phase of human character: intellect, temperament, skill, morality, and

every attitude that has been built up in the course of one's life." (Warren & Carmichael, 1930, p. 333)

Different ways of measuring personality

Different ways of measuring personality include using observation method by observing the

behaviour of a person over a long period of time (Sarason, 2019), case Study method in which the

case history of a participant is reorganized and rewritten from infancy till the current age to measure

personality (Sarason, 2019), interview method involving a process of interaction between interviewee

and interviewer (Sarason, 2019), and projective method in which a participant projects his/her internal

feelings, attitudes, needs, values to an external object by responding freely to unstructured situation to

which he/she is asked to respond (Sarason, 2019).

Semi - projective techniques of measuring personality

Unlike the projective tests, semi projective tests are partly structured, like completion of

sentence, story, or word association.

Sentence completion test development

Hermann Ebbinghaus invented the method in 1879 to test the mental ability of school

children in Germany, later Carl Jung popularized it. Initially a list of words was shown to the person

being tested and the client had to answer the first thing that comes to their mind (Hersen, 2003). The

association method was then formalized by Grace Kent and Aaron Rosanoff who created a Free

Association test. Unlike Jung they because it used more vague words, like table, dark, music, and man

(Rhode, 1957). Later some felt single word responses are not useful under the personality of a person.

The method gradually developed from one word, to brief phrases, to sentences (Rhode, 1957). In 1928

Arthur Payne used the formal sentence completion method tests for guidance purposes in asylums and

institutions and to assess career-related personal traits (Schafer et al., 1953). Amanda Rhode decided

not to focus on specific aspects of personality but use the measure to develop a general personality

test. The purpose of the measure was to “reveal latent needs, sentiments, feelings, and attitudes which
subjects would be unable or unwilling to recognize or to express in direct communication” (Weiner &

Greene, 2008). One of the most popular of these tests is the RISB, or Rotter Incomplete Sentence

Blank, this is the most popular form of the Sentence Completion Method used today (Hersen, 2003).

Sentence Completion Test – Description

The Sacks Sentence Completion Test is a 60-item scale that requires the participants to write

quickly in the blank space of the incomplete sentence the first idea that comes to their mind to

complete each sentence. The items in the scale are spread across four domains such as family area,

sex area, interpersonal relationship, and self-concept (Sacks & Levy, 1950).

Sentence Completion Test Table 1.0– Interpretation of Rating

S. No. Main Scale Subscale Rating and Description

1 Family area Attitude towards 2 = hostile relationship, complete rejection from

mother, Attitude family, mother, or father. Needs intervention

towards father, 1 = accepts the family members irrespective of

Attitude towards the mild disturbances in relationship

family unit

0 = Warm, positive and satisfactory relationship

2 Sex area Attitude towards 2 = Extremely sceptical of women and not

women, Attitude comfortable in heterosexual relationship

towards 1 = Moderate ability in keeping relationship

heterosexual 0 = Able to keep satisfactory relationship

relationships

3 Interpersonal Attitude towards 2 = Suspicious in relationships, fears authority,

relationships supervisors at and hostile in handling others

school or work, 1 = difficulty in making commitments, mild

Attitude towards discomfort with authority figures, assumed

people supervised, authority with capability

colleagues at work accepts authority, able to work collaboratively

4 Personal life Fears, Guilt 2 = distracted by fears, guilt feelings,

feelings, Attitude hopelessness, pessimistic and not able to dream

towards own for future

ability, Attitude 1 = fear of assertiveness, mild disturbance on the

towards past, past experiences, unsure of future

Attitude towards 0 = courageous, confident, optimistic, future

future, Goals oriented.

Sentence completion Test- Psychometric Properties

“Reported interrater agreement coefficients range from .48 to .57 and 77% of the statements

were rated in close agreement with clinical findings” (Sacks & Levy, 1950, as cited in Holaday et al.,

2000, p. 373). Compared to various instruments, such as Likert-type scales, sentence completion test

have high face validity (Holaday et al., 2000).

Advantages and Disadvantages

The person who takes this test does not know how the test provides information to the examiner,

therefore, the purpose is disguised, and it helps in reduction of intentional deception (Personality:

Theories and Assessment, 2017). This method allows “circumventing conscious defences” and making

it get subtle elements of personality (Personality: Theories and Assessment, 2017). This test can be

easily administered, and clients may perceive it as very engaging. It can also be used as part of clinical

interview.

Since there are no well-established methods of administration, scoring and interpretation, the

reliability may be low. (Peterson, 1978, as cited in Personality: Theories and Assessment, 2017). It is

highly advised that Sentence Completion Test should be considered in the light of other background

information such as interviews and case history etc. and not as a standalone test.

Application

Sentence Completion Test is widely used to explore a person’s unconscious conflicts, fantasies

and motives as this test has the capability to reveal human personality in greater depth and detail (Singer
& Koligian,1987 as cited in Personality: Theories and Assessment, 2017). It is used in various domains

such as personality analysis, clinical application, attitude assessment, achievement motivation and

measurement of other constructs (“Sentence Completion Tests,” 2020). It is also used in different

disciplines such as psychology, education, management and marketing (“Sentence Completion Tests,”

2020).
 Reference

Hersen, M. (2003). Comprehensive handbook of psychological assessment.: Vol. Volume 2.

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Holaday, M., Smith, D. A., & Sherry, A. (2000). Sentence Completion Tests: A Review of

the Literature and Results of a Survey of Members of the Society for Personality

Assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 74(3), 371–383.

https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa7403_3

Personality: Theories and Assessment: Vol. Unit 2 (Block 4 ed.). (2017). IGNOU:

Egyankosh. https://egyankosh.ac.in/handle/123456789/4482

Rhode, A. (1957). The sentence completion method: it’s diagnostic and clinical application

to mental disorders. New York, NY: The Ronald Press Company.

Sacks, J. M., & Levy, S. (1950). The Sentence Completion Test. Projective Psychology:

Clinical Approaches to the Total Personality., 357–402.

https://doi.org/10.1037/11452-011

Sarason, I. G. (2019). Personality Assessment - Assessment methods. Encyclopedia

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/personality-assessment/Assessment-

methods#ref36120

Schafer, R., Rotter, J. B., & Rafferty, J. E. (1953). Tests of Personality: Word Techniques.

Contributions toward Medical Psychology: Theory and Psychodiagnostic Methods,

Vol II., 577–598. https://doi.org/10.1037/11296-005

Sentence completion tests. (2020, July 31). In Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_completion_tests

Warren, H. C., & Carmichael, L. (1930). Elements of human psychology (Rev. ed.).

Houghton Mifflin Company.

Wiley and Sons.

Performa of the Client

Name: S.A

Age: 21

Date of Birth: 19/05/2000

Referral: N.A

Test Administered: Sentence Completion Test

Purpose for Testing: Understanding clients attitude towards various domains like family,

sex, interpersonal relationships and self-concept

Date of testing: 08/11/2021

Behavioural Observations: Nothing specific

Test Results

Table 2.0 Presenting client’s score on subscales

S.no Main Scale Sub Scale Rating Description

1. Family area Attitude towards Mother 0 No conflict

3. Attitude towards the family unit 0 No conflict

4. Sex area Attitude towards women 1 Minimal conflict

5. Attitude towards Heterosexual 0 No conflict

Relationships

6. Attitude towards Friends and 1 Minimal conflict

acquaintances

7. Interpersonal Attitude towards Superiors at work or 1 Minimal conflict

relationship school

8. Attitude towards people supervised 0 No conflict

9. Attitude towards colleagues at work or 1 Minimal conflict

school

10. Self -Concept Fears 1 Minimal conflict

Guilt feelings 2 Severe conflict

Attitude towards own abilities 0 No conflict

Attitude towards Past 2 Severe conflict

Attitude towards Future 1 Minimal conflict

Goals 0 No conflict
Test interpretation

Family Area

The client’s score in the family area which is 0 shows that the client has no conflict in

the family area. The overall average score for attitude towards mother is 0 which means that

she shares a very positive relationship with her mother. The overall average score for attitude

towards father is 0 which means that she shares a very positive and respectful relationship with

her father as well. The overall average score for attitude towards family unit also is 0 with the

reason being the same. Regarding the family unit she has expressed minimal conflict towards

other families but there are no conflicts towards her own.

Sex area

The client’s overall score in the sex area which is 1 shows minimal conflict in this

particular area. The client holds minimal conflict 1 towards women and friends/acquaintances.

This shows that her view towards other women are different compared to her and her mother

as she does not have an inclination towards being a feminist. Reasons for minimal conflict with

friends/acquaintances could be because of past bitter experiences with her friends and the

difference of opinions she feels among them. She holds no conflict towards which is 0 in

heterosexual relationships because she is currently in a heterosexual relationship which she

thinks is very positive and happy.

Interpersonal relationships

The client’s overall score in the interpersonal relationships area is 1 which shows

minimal conflict. The client holds minimal conflict with supervisors and colleagues at

work/school as she has scored 1 in these areas. This could be because she chooses to get
along only with people who are similar to her be it in the work place or in college. She finds

it difficult to mingle with all. The clients holds no conflict which is 0 with the people

supervised. She is very clear of how she will supervise them and make them feel comfortable

under her supervision by being kind and respectful.

Self- concept

The client’s overall average score for the self-concept area is 2 which shows severe

conflict. The client has scored 0 in attitudes towards her own abilities and her goals as she has

a very clear and crisp understanding of her own abilities and goals. She has scored 1 in fears

and attitudes towards future showing minimal conflict because the clients fears are mostly

related to her future life and hence there exists a minimal conflict in the same. The client has

scored 2 in guilt and attitudes towards past which shows severe conflict. There are few

mistakes she did in the past is still haunting her and she feels she has not resolves those

conflicts yet. The guilt feelings are mainly related to her temperament as a child and her past

relationship. Unless and until she resolves the severe conflict in areas like guilt and attitudes

towards past she won’t be able to have a positive self-concept without any conflict hence the

overall score for the area of self-concept remains 2.

Impression

The impression that can be made from the client’s test results are that she has some

unresolved conflicts in her past relationship that produces guilt feelings in the client and the

self-concept unit on an overall appears to be a slightly problematic area for the client. The

client expresses zero conflicts in the family area showing a very positive attitude on the same.

Minimal conflicts are present in the sex area and in the interpersonal relationships area

especially with women, friends/acquaintances, supervisors and colleagues.

It is suggestible that the client seeks consultation/counselling for the severe conflict

area especially the guilt and the past experiences so that she can get past these guilt feelings

attached to her past relationship/ex and her mistakes. Also, focus can be provided on

improving the attitude towards friends, supervisors, colleagues and women by widening her

perspectives and accepting differences.

Protocol