The document provides a description of the Sentence Completion Test for Adults (SSCT). It was developed in 1950 to obtain clinical material in four areas of adjustment: family, sex, interpersonal relationships, and self-concept. The SSCT consists of 60 incomplete sentences for respondents to complete. It can be administered individually or to groups and takes 20-40 minutes. The test assesses 14 variables, including attitudes towards parents, family, relationships, and self-concept. Scoring involves rating responses from 0-2 to indicate the level of disturbance in each area. The SSCT can be used to analyze personality, assess attitudes, and measure other constructs.

1. Prepared by:
Angelyn J. Vicente
MAPsy CP

2. Brief Backgroud
Developed by Joseph M. Sach and Sydney Levy in
1950 at New York Veterans Adminstration Mental
Hygiene Service.
Given individually to adult respondents.
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3. Description of the Scale
 The SSCT was designed to obtain significant clinical material
in four representative areas of adjustment namely: family, sex ,
interpersonal relationship and self-concept.
 It provides with the beginning of sentences, referred to as
“stems’ and respondents then complete the sentences in ways
that are meaningful to them.
 This test present sufficient opportunities for the respondent to
express attitudes that may infer dominant personality traits or
trends.
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Description of the Scale
 Composed of sixty (60) partly
completed sentences.
 It can be administered
individually or to groups and
subjects can take 20 t0 40
minutes.

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4 Group of Variables
1. Scale Family:
♦ Includes three sets of attitudes namely:
1. Those towards mother
2. Those towards father
3. Those towards family unit.
2. The Sex Area
♦ Includes attitude towards heterosexual
relationship.
Description of the Scale

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3. Interpersonal Relationship
◆ Includes attitude towards friends and
acquaintances, colleagues at work or
school, superior at work or school, and
people supervised.
4. Self-Concept
◆ Includes fear, guilt feelings, goals and
attitudes towards one’s own ability,
past and future.
Description of the Scale

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Usage of the Test
♦ The uses of SSCT include personality analysis, clinical
application, attitude assessment, achievement motivation
and measurement of other constructs. They are used in
several disciplines, including psychology, management,
education, and marketing

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Validity and Reliability
 Usually, sentence completion tests can be interpreted in two different
ways:
- subjective-intuitive analysis of the underlying motivations
projected in the subject's responses
- objective analysis by means of scores assigned to each
completed sentence.
 Multiple themes can occur in a short test, which gives the examinee
multiple opportunities to reveal underlying motivations about each topic
during data analysis.

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Validity and Reliability
 It usually include some formal coding procedure or manual.
The validity of each sentence completion test must be
determined independently.
 The validity of the rating is dependent of course upon the
clinical background of the examiner as well as the materials
produced by the subject.

10. Interpretation Guide
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 The following are the summaries and ratings of the
individual attitudes and outlines presented for a general
summary of the SSCT findings. This includes the
following:
1. Statement of those areas in which subject
shows the most disturbed attitudes. This may
provide significant clues for therapist.
2. A description of the interrelationships between
attitudes with respect to content. This often
illuminates dynamic factors in the case.

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 A rating is made of the subject’s degree of disturbance in this
area according to the following scale:
2 - SEVERELY DISTURBED Appears to require
The therapeutic aid in handling emotional
conflicts in this area.
1 – MILDLY DISTURBED Has emotional conflict
in this area but appears able to handle them
without therapeutic aid.
0 – No Significant disturbance rated in this area
X – Unknown, Insufficient evidence

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 Certain influences on the subject’s personality
structure case be made on the basis of the SSCT,
such as:
1. The subject’s manner of response to impulse
from within or to stimuli from the environment.
2. The subject’s nature of response to stress –
impulsive or well-controlled.
3. The subject’s thinking content: realistic,
artistic, and fantastic.

14. 1. Attitude towards Mother (14, 29, 44, 59)
 2 = Completely rejects and depreciates mother whom he considers
over demanding.
 1 = Sees mother’s fault but accepts and tolerates differences.
 0 = express only positive feelings towards the mother
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Short Guide to Interpretation
2. Attitude towards Father (1, 16, 31, 46)
 2 = feels extreme hostility and contempt with overt death wishes.
 1 = admires father but wishes that their relationship were closer.
 0 = expresses complete satisfaction with father’s personality.

15. 3. Attitude towards Family Unit (2, 27, 42, 57)
 2 = feels rejected by the family which lacks solidarity and which
has constantly contended with difficulties.
 1 = aware that the family does not recognize him as a mature
person but has no difficulty in relating with them.
 0 = instability of the family domicile has had little effect on his
favorable feeling towards them.
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4. Attitude towards Women ( 10, 25, 40, 55)
 2 = extremely suspicious, possible homosexual tendency
 1 = high ideas but ambivalent feelings.
 0 = only minor or superficial criticisms

16. 5. Attitude towards Heterosexual Relationship (11,26,41,56)
 2 = appears to have given up achieving good sexual
adjustment
 1 = deserved sexual experiences but reservation about his
ability to maintain marital relationship.
 0 = indicates satisfaction towards this area
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6. Attitude towards Friends and Acquaintances (8,23,38,53)
 2 = suspicious and apparently seclusive
 1= seems to wait approval of others before committing
himself emotionally
 0 = express mutual relationship with friends and self

17. 7. Attitude towards People Supervised (4,19,34,58)
 2 = feels he can handle or control hostility in handling others
 1 = feels capable of doing good supervisory but has
misgivings about assuming an authoritarian role.
 0 = feels controllable and well accepted by subordinates.
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8. Attitude towards Supervisors at work or School (6,21,36,51)
 2 = resents or fear authority
 1 = mild difficulty in accepting difficulty
 0 =

18. 9. Attitude towards Colleague at work/school (13,28,43,58)
 2 = feels rejected by colleagues, and condemns them
 1 = has some difficulty at work and depends on colleagues
 0 = expresses good mutual feelings
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10. Fear (7,22,37,52)
 2 = disturbed by the apparent fear of loving, possibility to
control his feelings
 1 = fear of self-assertion which is fairly common and not
pervasive.
 0 = lack of fear

19. 11. Guilt Feelings (15,30,45,60)
 2 = concerned with spiritual feeling and physical sex
drives
 1 = has regret over past and seems mildly disturbed by
his failure to control his trouble.
 0 = does not seem to be aware of guilt feelings
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12. Attitude towards Own Ability (2,7,32,47)
 2 = feels completely incompetent and hopeless
 1 = feels he has a specific ability but tends to fear
difficulty
 0 = confident on his ability to overcome obstacles

20. 13. Attitude towards Past (9,24,39,54)
 2 = feels rejected and isolated
 1 = 0 = feels well adjusted, no significant disturbance
in the past
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14. Attitude towards the Future (5, 20, 35, 50)
 2 = pessimistic, no hope in his own resources for
happiness and success
 1 = unsure of himself but tries to be optimistic
 0 = seems confident in achieving his goals

21. 15. Goals (3, 18,53,49)
2 = lack of motivation for achievement
1 = desires material things for family as well as for himself
0 =
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