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Do ambiguous images provide psychological insights? Testing a popular claim
Social media posts and websites claim that the way in which people perceive ambiguous images reveals insights into their personality and thinking style. To explore this notion, participants indicated the first image that they perceived in four ambiguous pictures (Duck-Rabbit, Younger-Older Woman, Rubin’s Vase and Horse-Seal), and completed a Five Factor personality measure along with scales relating to optimism, procrastination, holistic thinking, and decision-making style. Many of the claims received no empirical support and so constitute a new type of psychological myth. Future research could explore why these claims remain popular with the public and why people frequently share the material with others. In addition, several significant and interesting findings emerged, including associations between Duck-Rabbit, personality, and optimism, and Younger-Older Woman and age. Possible future research into these phenomena is discussed.
To explore this notion, participants indicated the first image that they perceived in four ambiguous pictures (Duck-Rabbit, Younger-Older Woman, Rubin’s Vase and Horse-Seal), and completed a Five Factor personality measure along with scales relating to optimism, procrastination, holistic thinking, and decision-making style. New myths are valuable because they highlight novel misunderstandings in the public perception of psychology, and help to extend existing work into the formation and maintenance of such beliefs ( e.g., Standing & Huber, 2003; Cho, 2022; Redifer & Jackola, 2024; Rodríguez-Prada, Orgaz & Cubillas, 2022). Some of the additional statistically significant findings ( e.g., the perception of Rubin’s Vase and openness, the Horse-Seal and intuitive decision making, and the Duck-Rabbit and extraversion and conscientiousness) appear somewhat isolated, are not related to previous research, or claims being made in social media posts and websites.
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