The Use of Projective Techniques in Ecological Consciousness

B. S. Shukurov

, B. A. Abdullaev

and O. S. Mirzaev

National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Navoi State Pedagogical Institute, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Ecological Consciousness, Ecological Culture, Ecological Competence, Eco Psychology, Projective

Psychology, Projection, Personality, Psychoanalysis, Unconsciousness, Consciousness, Past Experiences,

Applied Psychology, Ecoculture, Test, Methodology, Modern Psychodiagnostics.

Abstract: This article is devoted to the topic of using projective methods in the study of environmental awareness. Also,

in the text of the article, ecological consciousness and its essence, psychological aspects of ecological

consciousness, age characteristics of the formation of ecological consciousness, projective method of

evaluating ecological consciousness, projective psychodiagnostics and its practical possibilities,

psychological description of projective methods, projective diagnosis, ecological consciousness diagnostics

and modern psychology such issues are covered in detail.

1 INTRODUCTION

It is known that conducting empirical research

requires a high level of professional competence and

skills from each specialist psychologist. In addition,

the field of psychodiagnostics, which is a practical

field of psychology, involves the formation of the

ability to provide information about and use a set of

tests, methods, personality tests, ability tests,

intelligence tests and projective tests. Although many

tests and personality questionnaires have been created

so far, but among them, projective tests are methods

of particular importance. This is because textbooks,

monographs and methodological manuals on

projective psychology and projective

psychodiagnostics have not been sufficiently

published in local psychological research. However,

the difference between projective methods and other

methods is that they have a covert method of

obtaining information from an individual. These

techniques are nonverbal in nature and can include

subjects' drawings, ink stains, and colour tests.

It should be noted that the difficulty of

standardizing projective methods, their nonverbal

nature, the lack of use of methods in research in our

national Uzbek environment, the lack of clear criteria

for research, the analysis of research results requires

high practical and theoretical knowledge. Therefore,

the psychometric aspects of the use of projective

methods, projective diagnosis and its peculiarities,

the adaptation of projective methods to the local

environment, the study of the practical possibilities of

projective methods in the study of the individual are

among the most pressing issues. So far, a number of

foreign researchers on projective psychology and

projective methods Z.Freud, K.Yung, G.Murray,

L.Frank, V.Shapar, O.Shapar, F.Chada, F.Galton,

F.Klopfer, G.Rorshach , D.Rapaport, L.Bellak. These

authors mainly used projective methods in the clinical

setting and in determining the norm and pathology.

Therefore, most research is recognized as concepts

that are illuminated by medical ideas. In Russian

psychology, too, extensive research has been

conducted on projective methods and their

psychodiagnostic nature, the specifics of the use of

projective methods, projective diagnosis and

personality capabilities, including E. Sokolova, L. F.

Burlachuk, I. Shlyapnikov, L. N. Sobchik, D.Ya.

Raygorodskiy, K.M.Gurevich, E.M. Borisova,

S.A.Pavlova, V.M.Bleyxer, S.A.Pavlova, V.I.

Evdokimov, B. I. Hellinger, D.A. An example is the

scientific research of scientists such as Leontev, E.I.

Kuzmina. In the psychology of our country, specific

research has been conducted on such issues as

projective methods and their application in

psychological practice, the use of projective methods

in the study of educational difficulties, projective

diagnosis and its advantages. Psychologists of our

country M.G.Davletshin, E.G.Gaziev,

Z.T.Nishanova, G.K.Tulaganova, P.S. Ergashev also

Shukurov, B., Abdullaev, B. and Mirzaev, O.

The Use of Projective Techniques in Ecological Consciousness.

DOI: 10.5220/0012952000003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 1059-1062

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

1059

pay special attention to the issues of projective

methods, which are mainly focused on the

methodological aspects of projective methods, the

study of adolescent students. have conducted research

on topics such as the possibility of adapting pre-

objective methodologies. However, the diagnostic

potential of projective methods in the study of the

individual is still - there is still a need for more

extensive research. This fact in itself determines the

relevance of the topic of this scientific article.

Historically, the emergence of projective methods is

associated with the establishment of the concept of

"projection" in psychology, which in Latin means

projection- "throw forward", "throw". The first

methodological issues of the methodology are more

in the context of the teachings of "psychoanalysis"

and "holism". That is, according to this doctrine, with

the help of methods lies a person's attitude to objects,

the reality that surrounds him, and his desire - desires,

needs, as well as the desire to reveal the conditions

that make up his inner world. The term "projective

research" was first used by L. Frank in 1939. A

number of methodologies for research were known

during this period. Examples include Jung's

associative test, Rorschach's test, TAT, and a range of

other methodologies. Based on the results of his

research, the author distinguishes the following

groups of projective methods - Frank, L.K. (2000):

– Methods of the constitutional category. Methods

in this category are characterized by a situation in

which the examinee is given a structure, shape, or

amorphous configuration (geshalt), plastic, an

unstructured substance, such as clay, fingers, or paint

to draw, such as a Rorschach card.

– Methods in the constructive category. Such

methods are similar to the differences between

constitutional analogues, that is, the differences

between "dry" and "recycled" material. In the study,

the subject behaves in a constructive manner, taking

into account the materials recommended to him

manidir construction, in which case the construction

model reflects certain organizational concepts of its

life during this time, for example, the construction of

something using cubes is carried out.

– Methods in the interpretive category. It is known

from the nomenclature that it expresses the subject’s

response throughout the story, in which case a

stimulus situation is reflected for him or her in the

image, i.e., a specific response to the stimulus

situation is recorded. For example, the TAT test and

the verbal association test are included in this

category.

– Methods in the category of catarrh. In this

methodology, the subject presents his emotions and

sensations in relation to the stimulus situation, and it

is recorded in an emotionally relaxed state, in which

he shows an affective reaction to life situations, which

is reflected in the reaction to stimulus situations as

observed while playing with clay or toys.

– Methods of refractive category. The title in this

context was added by L. Frank during the next

analysis. This phenomenon, as described by

G.Allport, is observed "expressively" and expresses

the characteristics of behaviour. If it is considered on

the basis of a projective method, then the

graphological method is a clear example of this.

Also, psychologist G.M.Proshansky created a

specific classification of projective methods based on

three components: stimuli, answers, goals and cited

notes, according to which stimuli in projective

methods - Proshansky, G.M. (2000):

– Verbal; visual; clear; and other conditional

responses.

– Associative.

– Interpretative.

– Manipulative.

– Free choice and others.

The peculiarities of the classification, classified

above, are that the last part of each category derives

from the general order or is considered to have the

opposite character to the other parts. In our opinion,

the following features are common to the types of

projective methodologies:

1. Uncertainty, ambiguity of incentives used;

2. There are no restrictions on the choice of

answers;

3. Absence of “correct” or “incorrect” answers.

Psychologist A.Anastazi, commenting on the

diagnostic potential of projective methods,

emphasizes that the methods are not as a

psychometric tool, but as a series of qualitatively

analysed works - Anastasi, A, & et. al. (2001).

Therefore, the diagnostic potential of projective

methodologies is considered reliable if they are

interpreted using qualitatively descriptive

methodologies rather than with quantitatively

processed methodologies L.F. Burlachuk, S.M.

Morozov (1989, 2000) offers a different definition:

projective methods - (Latin projectyu - throw

forward) a set of methods aimed at studying a person

and developed within the projective diagnostic

approach; a set of holistic personality study methods

based on the psychological interpretation of

projection results. We give another definition that

emphasizes the importance of the special projective

situation, and also name the properties that allow us

to define projective methods. Projective methods are

methods of mediated study of a person based on the

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construction of a specific, plastic (weakly structured)

stimulating situation, the desire to solve it helps to

actualize in the perception of tendencies, attitudes,

relationships and other personal characteristics -

Burlachuk, L.F. (1997). When assessing the validity

and reliability of projective methods, we share the

point of view that many of these methods have a

holistic approach to characterizing a person, but we

cannot agree that this leads to a decrease in the

reliability of information. We believe that

consideration of the personality traits of a preschooler

in integrity is the most psychologically informative.

E.D.Belousova suggests using the concepts of

"projectivity" and "projectivity". Projectivity - the

properties of the stimulus field to actuate the

projection mechanism. “The level of projectivity of

the stimulating material is inversely proportional to

the degree of structure of this material and is directly

proportional to the number of all practically possible

answers”- Belousova, A.K., & et. al. (2018),

Sinha

2024. Projection is considered as an act of perception,

the manifestation of the individual in perception, as a

reflection of what previously existed in the

experience of practical activity and in the emotional

sphere. Below we will try to give a brief information

about the analysis of the input results conducted and

used to assess the psychodiagnostics potential of

projective methods.

2 METHODS

In our study, in the process of implementing the

method of "Home.Tree.Person", we took into account

some aspects of the local environment. Because

according to the nature of this methodology, once the

main stimuli are presented to the subject, each of

them implements the approach in its own way. This

projective method can be widely used in assessing the

individual's psychological characteristics, diagnosing

his emotional sphere, determining his attitude,

assessing the defence mechanism and the degree of

his development in the person, as well as assessing

the person's interpersonal skills, conflict propensity.

In addition, the results of this projective methodology

can be analysed in a unique way, using statistical

methods.

3 RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

Below we describe the aspects in which the

application of the methodology and its stimuli played

a leading role according to the nature of the subjects.

Based on the study of the features of this

methodology, we came to the conclusion that the

diagnosis of the subjects should take into account the

periodic features of the psyche, one of which is its

relationship to the future, the second to the present,

and the third to the past. In calculating the

quantitative indicator of the results, we paid special

attention instead of recording the stimuli in the

drawings of the subjects. This allowed us to use

projective methodologies to describe the temporal

nature of a person’s mental world. In the analysis of

the results obtained, we found it necessary to take into

account the general qualities and gender

characteristics of the subjects. (Table 1).

A review of the results shows that in the results of

girls and boys, the leading aspect in their recording of

stimuli is the future of their mental states: general -

home (65), tree-79, man (61); now- house (57), tree

(52), man (47); past-home (36); tree (27) and man

(50) were found to be oriented. Even in our

subsequent results, if we consider that mental states

are related to three periods of human mental state, the

fact that the state of the past in girls is higher in

expression (28) suggests that they rely on a regressive

defense mechanism in mental crisis situations. The

expression of the results in the histogram also allows

them to be distinguished more clearly. In our study,

we also tried to provide an analytical example of the

methodology based on the general contingent of

subjects and their specific cases. Below we look at

some of them (Table 2).

Table 1. Results of the method "House, tree, man" (N

= 158).

Stimuli General

(N=158)

Boys

(N=80)

Girls

(N=78)

Home Tree Person

The future 65 79 61

Present 57 52 47

The past 36 27 50

Table 2: Correlation of Results of the Method "Home, Tree,

Person" (N = 158)

Stimuli General Boys Girls

Home Tree Person

Home 1 0.962** 0.556*

Tree 1 0.761**

Person 1

*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01

But what surprised us for some reason was the

correlation between the girls ’results: the relationship

between home and tree performance was not

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observed. This is perhaps the reason why we say that

they are the result of some difficulty in sufficiently

regulating their spiritual control. Therefore, we also

focused on ranking the features of the “Home, Tree,

Person” methodology that were emphasized by the

subjects

4 CONCLUSIONS

The use of projective techniques, as demonstrated in

this study, provides valuable insights into the

ecological consciousness of individuals. Through the

application of the "Home-Tree-Person" method and

other projective tools, we were able to assess not only

environmental awareness but also psychological

factors such as emotional states, defense mechanisms,

and interpersonal skills. These projective methods,

despite their complexity and subjective interpretation,

offer a unique, non-verbal approach to understanding

an individual’s relationship with their ecological

surroundings. Given the limitations of standardized

testing in psychological diagnostics, projective

techniques allow for a deeper exploration of

unconscious attitudes and feelings toward

environmental issues. However, as the study

highlights, the lack of clear criteria for research,

especially in the context of the Uzbek environment,

emphasizes the need for further adaptation and

validation of these techniques. The findings of this

research underscore the importance of integrating

projective methods into both clinical and educational

settings, as they offer a more holistic understanding

of ecological consciousness. Future research should

focus on the refinement of these techniques, with an

emphasis on cross-cultural adaptation and empirical

validation to enhance their diagnostic reliability and

applicability.

REFERENCES

Frank, L.K. (2000). Projective methods for studying

personality. In Projective Psychology (pp. 69-85). M.:

April Press, EKSMO-Press Publishing House.

Proshansky, G.M. (2000). Classification of projective

methods. In Projective Psychology (pp. 99-105). M.:

April Press, EKSMO-Press Publishing House.

Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (2001). Psychological testing (A.

K. Belousova & I. I. Yumatova, Trans.). St. Petersburg:

Peter.

Sinha, A. K. (2024). A Weighted multi-objective

evolutionary algorithm optimization. SPAST

Reports, 1(2).

https://doi.org/10.69848/sreports.v1i2.13

Burlachuk, L.F. (1997). Introduction to projective

psychology. Kyiv: Vist-S.

Belousova, A.K., & Yumatova, I.I. (Eds.). (2018).

Psychodiagnostics: Textbook. R&D: Phoenix.

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