Hans Zulliger: Life and Work

Hans Zulliger was born in Biel on February 21th 1893, and spent his entire life in a small village called Ittigen (Switzerland). From 1912 until 1959 he dedicated himself to teaching. Zulliger came into contact with the impressive work developed by Oskar Pfister (1873-1956) on the  psychoanalytic  method.   He  soon  became  a  passionate  student   of

Freudian psychoanalysis, without neglecting the views proposed by Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung. His first publications allowed him to get in touch with Sigmund Freud. Shortly after, he was invited to become a member of the Swiss Society of Psychoanalysis: here he met, among others, Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922).

Hans Zulliger was a polyhedral practitioner: teacher, psychologist, psychoanalyst, psycho- diagnostician, researcher and scholar in the field of psychological testing, developer of an important projective technique ( the so-called Z-Test) and disseminator of Rorschach Test and Be- Ro Test.

It’s important to note that Zulliger had the opportunity to live and work for decades in a small, permanent community: he followed the development of many young people, testing a great number of subjects in different moments of their lives, and counseling with them.

First disciple and then friend of Rorschach, Zulliger was probably the only one, within the inner circle of scholars that revolved around Rorschach, and lived so long to continue, in the course of his own life, taking care of Rorschach’s work.

He gradually emerged as a champion of the parallel test form known as Behn-Rorschach, named after the student and colleague of Rorschach, Hans Behn-Eschenburg (1893-1934). However his name is linked to the “Z-Test”, or “Zulliger Projective Technique”,  created  for the selection of  Swiss Army officers during World War II.

The Z-Test is a projective test consisting of three laminas similar to those of Rorschach’s, used to establish an accurate psychological diagnosis in a limited time. The Z-Test is administered in individual setting or in group setting, in different professional contexts from organizational, clinical, forensic and educational fields.

For more information on Zulliger Projective Test, visit www.castiellodantonio.it

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(*) Prof. Andrea Castiello d'Antonio is Organizational & Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist, and Former Professor at European University of Rome, Dept. of Psychology, Rome, Italy.

Further Readings.

Castiello d’Antonio A. (2012), La Tecnica Proiettiva di Hans Zulliger nella selezione psicologica delle R.U. [Hans Zulliger’s Projective Technique in the Field of Psychological Assessment of Human Resources], Personale & Lavoro, 541, 15-21.

Castiello d’Antonio A. (2013), Attualità della Tecnica Proiettiva di Hans Zulliger [Relevance of Hans Zulliger’s Projective Technique], Psichiatria dell’infanzia e dell’adolescenza.

Castiello d’Antonio A. (2008), Zulliger Test. La Tecnica Proiettiva di Hans Zulliger nella

diagnosi di personalità [Zulliger Test. Hans Zulliger’s Projective Technique in the Personality Diagnosis]. Milano: Franco Angeli (con P. Carruba).

Ellenberger, H. (1954), The Life and work of Hermann Rorschach (1884-1922). Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, XVIII, 5, 173-219.

Friedemann A. (1966), Hans Zulliger. Psychoanalysis and Education. In: F. Alexander, S. Eisenstein, M. Grotjahn, (Eds.), Psychoanalytic Pioneers. New York: Basic Books.

Kasser W. (1963) (Ed.), Hans Zulliger: eine Biographie und Würdigungen seines Wirkens. Bern, Stuttgart: Hans Huber.

Medard B. (1934), Hans Behn-Eschenburg. Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Vol. 20, 4, 561-562.

Milhaud-Cappe D. (2007), Freud et le mouvement de pedagogie psychanalytique 1908-1937. A. Aichhorn, H. Zulliger, O. Pfister. Paris: Vrin.

Moll J. (2002), Zulliger Hans. In: A. De Mijolla, Dictionnaire Internacional de la Psychanalyse. 2 vol. Paris: Calmann-Lévy.

Oberholzer, E. (1968). Rorschach - the Man and the Test. Journal of Projective Techniques and Personality Assessment, 32, 502-508.

Zdunic A., (2012), El Test de Zulliger en la evaluation de personal: aportes del Sistema Comprehensivo de Exner. Buenos Aires: Paidos.

Zulliger H. (1940), Psychoanalytic Experiences in Public School Practice. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 10, 286-370.

Zulliger H. (1942), Der Behn-Rorschach Test. Zentralblatt für Psychotherapie, 13, 337-345.

Zulliger H. (1948), Der Z-Test. Ein Formdeut-Verfahren zur psychologischen Untersuchung von Gruppen. Bern: Hans Huber

Zulliger H. (1950), Psychoanalyse und Formdeut-Versuch Psyche, 3, 844-850. (Tr. inglese: Psycho-Analysis and the Form-Interpretation Test. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 31, 1- 2, 152-155).

Zulliger H. (1951a), Heilende Kräfte im Kinderspiel. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett.

Zulliger H. (1957), Projektive Tests und "kleine Psychotherapie". Psyche, 10, 610 - 629.

Zulliger H. (1962), Der Zulliger-Tafeln-Test (Tafeln-Z-Test): Ein Rorschach-Verfahren mit drei Tafeln für individuelle psychologische Prüfungen. Bern: Huber.

Zulliger H. (1969), The Zulliger Individual and Group Test. Edited by Fritz Salomon. New York: International Universities Press.

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