Differential relationships of objective and projective dependency scores to self-reports of interpersonal life events in college student subjects.

Eighty-three undergraduate subjects (58 women and 25 men) participated in a prospective study in which they (a) completed widely used objective and projective measures of dependency, and then (b) provided monthly reports of the frequency and impact of various types of life events during a 1-semester (3-month) period. As expected, subjects' projective dependency scores predicted their frequency estimates and impact ratings of interpersonal life events but were unrelated to frequency estimates and impact ratings of other types of life events (e.g., achievement-related, legal). Objective dependency scores were unrelated to all life event frequency estimates and impact ratings. Findings are discussed in the context of recent theoretical frameworks that distinguish implicit dependency needs (which are assessed via projective measures) from self-attributed dependency needs (which are assessed via self-report tests). The importance of the type of dependency measure used in studies of the dependency-life events relationship is emphasized.