Measuring ego development

About this book

The Washington University Sentence Completion Test, which was developed by Jane Loevinger, is a free-response, semi-projective instrument for the assessment of ego development. The first "manual" for administering and scoring the test was published in 1970. In addition to its widespread use in the United States, it has also been adopted for use in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, India, and South Africa. The WUSCT has been used for research in the fields of adolescent personality development, moral development, infancy and parenting, family studies, gender studies, multiculturalism, religion, psychopathology and psychotherapy, vocational studies, social and organizational psychology. It is most frequently used by researchers and practitioners in psychology, counseling, social work, and education. This book represents a revised edition of the WUSCT scoring manual, including all items in the 1981 forms, which were revised for use with both men and women. The content reflects current social attitudes, which have changed on some topics since the publication of the original 1970 manual. Although there have been minor changes in terminology, the conception of ego development is unchanged, and the stages of the construct are essentially the same. The format of the scoring manual, however, has been radically changed for ease of use in rating responses. (The rating scale itself, which is the same for all items, is kept simple.) A tutorial is included to assist in calculating the Total Protocol Ratings.