Psychological Correlates to Myopia Compared to Hyperopia and Emmetropia

The relationship between some psychological factors and myopia (near-or shortsightedness) was explored. The hypotheses tested were to demonstrate a characteristic personality pattern of expressing anxiety and hostility. The myopes demonstrated, through the Rorschach Test, the manner of expressing anxiety covertly with a decrease in motor activity, while the hyperopes also demonstrated significant quantities of covert anxiety but with an increase in motor activity. The myopes and hyperopes, when each were compared to the normal-sighted control group, varied significantly less in the expression of non-specific anxiety and hostility. Thus, the findings supported the hypotheses.