The Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of Thematic Apperception Test Stories were developed to measure the emotional tone of fantasy in TAT stories. The study involved 150 male World War II veterans, divided into clinical and non-clinical groups. All 20 cards recommended for adult males were used. The examiner took verbatim notes of the subject’s responses. Participants were instructed to create stories about the pictures, including background, present events, future outcomes, and character thoughts and feelings. The stories were analyzed for themes, identification, distortions, details, interpretation, emotional tone, and outcome.
Eron, Leonard D. (1950). A normative study of the Thematic Apperception Test. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, Vol 64(9), i-48. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0093627
| Key for all scales |
| — 2 Very sad |
| — 1 Sad |
| 0 Neutral |
| + 1 Happy |
| + 2 Very happy |
| General Rating Scale for Emotional Tone of Stories: |
| — 2 Complete failure, submission to fate, death, murder, suicide, illicit sex with violence, revenge, aggressive hostility, severe guilt, complete hopelessness. |
| — 1 Conflict with attempt at adjustment, rebellion, fear, worry, departure, regret, illness, physical exhaustion, resignation toward death, loneliness. |
| 0 Description, lack of affect, balance of positive and negative feelings, routine activities, impersonal reflection. |
| + 1 Aspiration; desire for success and doubt about outcome, compensation for limited endowment. Description with cheerful feeling, reunion with friends, contentment with world, feeling of security. |
| + 2 Justifiably high aspiration. Complete satisfaction and happiness. Reunion with loved ones. |
| ? Can’t make up a story. |
| General Rating Scale for Outcomes: |
| — 2 Complete failure, submission to fate, death, murder, suicide, extreme punishment, extreme remorse. |
| — 1 Some frustration: incomplete success in attaining goal, goal attained at expense of happiness, disappointment to friends and family, acceptance of unsatisfactory situation or submission to authority. |
| 0 Continuation of ordinary situation, balance of happy and unhappy situations. |
| + 1 Moderate success, reunion with friends, recovery from temporary disability or depression, happiness in success of others. |
| + 2 Great success, discovery, and/or happiness. Extreme contentment, marital bliss, unusual good fortune, reunion with loved ones. |
| ? Cannot give an outcome, even when explicitly asked for, conditional (if) outcomes, alternative outcomes of different emotional value. |
| Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of Individual Cards: |
| (1) |
| — 2 Complete frustration and hopelessness with no resistance. |
| — 1 Dejected, inadequacy with attempt to adjust. |
| 0 Frustration with no depression. Aspirations balanced by conflict. Lack of feeling tone. |
| + 1 High aspirations with cooperation but some hindrance. |
| + 2 High aspiration with approbation and no conflict. |
| (2) |
| — 1 Conflict between ambition and duty to family with some feelings of guilt or apprehension, disappointment with lot, jealousy. |
| 0 Description of picture, planning for future with no apparent affect. |
| + 1 Future planning, description with cheerful feeling. |
| + 2 Complete satisfaction with present status and life’s accomplishments. |
| (3BM) |
| — 2 Uncontrolled emotionality, murder, mentally ill, complete frustration, death of loved one, suicide. |
| — 1 Self-pity, aggressive parental pressure, transitory depression, adolescent confusion, physical incapacity. |
| (4) |
| — 2 Desire for revenge, murder, aggressive hostility. |
| — 1 Disillusionment, occupational failure, conflict over extra-marital relations, jealousy, pressure from mate. |
| (5) |
| — 2 Overdominant parent or mate, extreme parental or partner pressure, aggressive hostility, murder. |
| — 1 Parental or partner pressure without aggression, loneliness, slight frustration. |
| 0 Checking on room or occupants, doing household duties. |
| + 1 Unexpected gift, welcome guest, good news. |
| (6BM) |
| — 2 Death, bad news, severe guilt, conflict over social acceptance of sexual role. |
| — 1 Parental pressure, filial obligation, conflict over desires and duties, departure from parental home. |
| (7BM) |
| — 2 Disappointment of parents in child, guilt, repeated failure. |
| — 1 Disagreement, recalcitrance, rebellion against parental authority, feelings of inadequacy. |
| 0 Parental advice, impersonal discussion, counseling. |
| + 1 Aspiration with encouragement and/or advice. |
| (8BM) |
| — 2 Murder, death, extreme guilt. |
| — 1 Worry and concern about accident and operation, frustration of ambitions. |
| 0 Descriptive, perfunctory, lack of emotional involvement, impersonal reflection. |
| + 1 Aspiration, hope and planning for future. Adventurous daydreaming. |
| (9BM) |
| — 1 Economic misfortune, physical exhaustion, danger of combat, social disapproval. |
| 0 Men at rest, pure description, no emotional involvement. |
| + 1 Comradely feeling, contentment, carefree, happy-go-lucky, lack of concern for convention. |
| (10) |
| — 2 Death, extreme sorrow, tragedy. |
| — 1 Departure, leaving loved ones, personal failure, being comforted for minor misfortune. |
| 0 Lack of affect, balance of conflict. |
| + 1 Reunion, happiness, acceptance, feelings of pleasure. |
| + 2 Marital bliss, extreme contentment, satisfaction and good adjustment. |
| (11) |
| — 2 Life is futile, horrible, complete absence of hope, no avoidance of fate. Death, destruction, war. |
| — 1 Struggle against aggressive forces, animals fighting, story detached from reality. |
| 0 No emotional involvement, little interpersonal action, description. |
| + 1 Vacation, pleasure trip, happy people. |
| (12M) |
| — 2 Death, suicide, malpractice (hypnotism) with aggression, rape, curse. |
| — 1 Reconciliation to death; illness, parental pressure. |
| 0 Hypnosis with no harm involved (experimentation with or demonstration of hypnosis). Being awakened from sleep. |
| + 1 Reunion. |
| (13MF) |
| — 2 Illicit sex with violence, rape, death, murder for infidelity. |
| — 1 Disillusionment with sexual experience, regret for illicit sex. Illness of wife. |
| (14) |
| — 1 Resignation to death of relative. Reflection on worldly conflicts, with or without appeal to religion, loneliness. |
| 0 Daydreaming without emotional involvement, any other theme with no emotional involvement, adolescent reverie. |
| + 1 Contentment with environment, appreciation of world around. |
| + 2 Happy, well-adjusted hero, vacation, planning for happiness. |
| (15) |
| — 2 Death of close relative, loneliness for deceased, mourning, hopelessness, hero rejected by society, suicide. |
| — 1 Impersonal speculation on death, return of dead to cemetery, visiting grave of friend. |
| 0 Description of painting or picture, no affect. |
| (17BM) |
| — 1 Vindictiveness, revenge, trying to escape from unfavorable environment, fear, inadequacy. |
| 0 Vacillation in plot (balance of happy and sad themes), doing routine job of acrobatics. |
| + 1 Compensation for limited endowment, desire for success with uncertainty about outcome. |
| + 2 Hero happy and successful. Display of physical prowess, adulation of crowd, winning of contest. |
| (18BM) |
| — 2 Suicide, manslaughter, thwarted escape, hallucinations, delusions. |
| — 1 Environmental frustration, accident, ordinary drunkenness, personal sorrow not of serious proportion. |
| 0 Description of poster or painting. No emotional involvement. |
| (19) |
| — 2 Death due to forces of nature or war. |
| — 1 Fear (child’s fear of supernatural), bad storm with little or no emphasis on comfort of home. |
| 0 Description of picture. |
| + 1 Comfort of home during storm, feeling of security. |
| (20) |
| — 2 Death of loved one, suicide. |
| — 1 Disappointment in love, worry, feeling of rejection, economic pressure, disillusionment, loneliness. |
| 0 Out for a walk, description, no feeling tone. |
Cite this article
Mohammed looti (2026). Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of TAT Stories. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/rating-scales-for-emotional-tone-of-tat-stories/
Mohammed looti. "Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of TAT Stories." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 3 Apr. 2026, https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/rating-scales-for-emotional-tone-of-tat-stories/.
Mohammed looti. "Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of TAT Stories." PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, 2026. https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/rating-scales-for-emotional-tone-of-tat-stories/.
Mohammed looti (2026) 'Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of TAT Stories', PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. Available at: https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/rating-scales-for-emotional-tone-of-tat-stories/.
[1] Mohammed looti, "Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of TAT Stories," PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES, vol. X, no. Y, ص Z-Z, April, 2026.
Mohammed looti. Rating Scales for Emotional Tone of TAT Stories. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES. 2026;vol(issue):pages.