"House, Tree, Person" (HTP) is a projective psychological test created by John Buck in 1948. This test is designed to assess a person's personality, inner world, emotional state and interaction with the world around them. Based on a drawing of three objects - a house, a tree and a person, a psychologist can get an idea of many aspects of the subject's psyche.
Pros of the technique
Easy to conduct: does not require special materials or conditions.
Non-verbal nature: suitable for people with different levels of verbal skills.
Informative: reveals deep aspects of personality.
What is it aimed at?
The HTP test aims to identify hidden emotional problems, attitudes, fears and desires. It can be used to assess the level of maturity of the personality, as well as its attitude to the world around and to themselves.
Instructions:
The test subject is asked to draw a house, a tree and a person. It is important that the drawing be done in a free manner, without prompts or restrictions.
Who is this technique suitable for?
The test is suitable for people of different age groups, from preschool children to adults.
The methodology is universal, but requires adaptation of questions and approach to interpretation depending on the age and cultural context of the test taker. It can be actively used in the following areas:
- In psychology and psychotherapy to diagnose the patient's condition.
- In education to study the emotional and psychological state of students.
- In personnel assessment to determine the personality traits of candidates.
Peculiarities of interpretation of results
- Broken glass in the windows of the house: this may indicate a disturbed perception of home comfort or experiences related to family life. It is important to ask the subject why they chose this image and what it means to them.
- A tree with damage or broken branches: these elements often symbolize psychological trauma. The location of the damage on the trunk of the tree may indicate the age at which the subject experienced the traumatic event.
- Shadows on the ground: shadows may reflect the conscious level of the individual and indicate recent or current problems affecting psychological well-being. Scattered shadows may indicate a decline in intellectual performance.
- Absence of the sun: despite the presence of shadows, subjects often forget to represent the sun. This may indicate a neglect of some important aspects of life or an unwillingness to notice positive aspects.
- Absence of usual details: for example, the absence of windows, doors or body parts in a drawing of a person may indicate internal conflicts or psychological blocks.
- Unusual placement of objects: a leaning house, a leaning tree, or an image of a person seemingly falling over may reflect an inner state of instability or anxiety.
- Side symbolism: the right side may symbolize the future and the left side may symbolize the past. Analyzing this symbolism may help to understand the subject's attitude toward his or her past and future.
- The position of the person's arms and legs: an irregular arrangement of the limbs may indicate psychological peculiarities or internal conflicts. It is important to elicit from the subject the meaning of this arrangement.
- Person depicted in profile: if a person is drawn in such a way that only one side is visible, this may indicate a neglect or lack of awareness of certain aspects of the personality. It is important to ask the test taker to describe what happens to the "invisible" side.
Test Keys
Commonly accepted qualitative measures are used to quantify the House, Tree, Person (HTP) test. These have been structured into a number of symptom components, each with maximum possible scores:
- Insecurity - up to 32 points. This indicator is assessed by criteria including the location of the drawing on the sheet, the use of additional details, their nature and size, and the poses and proportions of the figures. For example, the drawing in the center of the sheet is estimated at 0-3 points, the presence of many secondary details - also at 0-3 points.
- Anxiety - up to 33 points. The score includes the analysis of elements such as clouds, shading, line with strong pressure, as well as changes and erasure of the drawing. The score for each trait ranges from 0 to 3 points.
- Self distrust - up to 8 points. This takes into account weakness of drawing lines or self-justifying reservations while drawing, with a maximum score of 1 to 2 points for each trait.
- Sense of wholeness - up to 16 points. This score is based on factors such as drawing size, proportions, and details that reflect self-perception.
- Hostility - up to 15 points. Includes elements such as missing windows, doors, empty eye sockets or aggressive human posture, with scores ranging from 0 to 2 points for each feature.
- Conflict, Frustration - up to 23 points. Evaluates conflicting elements of the drawing, redrawing of objects, refusal to draw some elements and other signs.
- Communication difficulties - up to 18 points. Focuses on details such as the absence of a door or windows, the face drawn last, or statements about the person drawn as lonely.
- Depressiveness - up to 10 points. Signs such as drawing at the very bottom of the sheet, decreased intensity of lines while drawing, or severe fatigue after drawing are considered here.
Each of these components is rated on a scale where higher scores indicate greater expression of the corresponding psychological characteristics.
