THE UPS AND DOWNS OF TAT CARD 17BM

The frequency with which a normal population (N = 65) designates the m an on Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1938) Card 17BM as clim bing either up or down was studied and correlated with measures of opt imism and self-efficacy. Thirty-four participants (52%) specified the direction as up, 21 (32%) as down, and 10 (15%) did not designate a di rection. Designating the climber as going up or down was not related t o optimism or self-efficacy. However, goal specification and attainmen t within the TAT story-as-a-whole was correlated with both optimism an d self-efficacy.