A CROSS CULTURAL COMPARISON OF HUMAN FIGURE DRAWINGS

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the human figure drawings of ten and fourteen year olds from the Dominican Republic and the United States, living in urban and rural areas. It was hypothesized that the influence of the particular cultural milieu would be greatest as reflected in the drawings of ten year olds, and that the drawings of fourteen year olds would more closely approximate one another.;The drawings were collected from two hundred and sixty-six subjects in both countries. The drawings were examined for similarities and/or differences based on country, age and location, using a drawing rating scale developed by the author. Drawings were scored by two independent raters, whose inter-rater agreement reached ninety-seven and ninety-six one hundreths percent. Teacher evaluations (Pupil Rating Form) were completed for each child, the results of which were compared with the presence or absence of specific drawing characteristics as scored by the two raters.;It appears that differences in the use of human figure drawing characteristics do exist between the Dominican Republic and the United States, and that these differences are more apparent in the drawings of ten year olds as compared with drawings of fourteen year olds. The contribution of urban and rural location is not clear. These conclusions suggest that adolescents in different cultural environments are subject to similar kinds of experiences which are reflected in the similarity of their figure drawings. Ten year olds are more apt to draw figures which exhibit characteristics specific to development in their respective cultural environments. Further investigation is necessary to determine the applicability of human figure drawings in different cultural milieus.