Abstract
The INDSCAL Program of Carroll and Chang has been applied in a study with the Semantic Differential Parental (S.D.P.). Four subject groups are examined: neurotic (n = 158), psychosomatic (n = 113), and schizophrenic (n = 97) patients and an control group of healthy adults (n = 107). The S.D.P. is a unipolar seven-step scale item list which is assumed to reflect the main aspects of the paternal and maternal dimensions. Concepts offered for assessment are the father and mother images, both with a realistic (memory images) and an ideal parent appraisal, and the doctor and self images. Three basic semantic components account for 40% to 50% of the total variance of the joint concepts in each group. Two semantic components are integrative components, whereas a third is a differential component of the paternal and maternal. The characteristics of this differentiation both validate and further explicate earlier research results with the S.D.P. Each group is assigned a specific place with relation to the assimilation processes of the paternal and the maternal dimensions in image formation. Here, established patterns and different precursors (patient groups) of the patterns of individuation, receptivity, law and dependency or authority relationships are formed.