The interrater reliability of Elizur's hostility systems and Holt's aggression variables: a meta-analytical review

Abstract

We provide a meta-analytic review of interrater reliability for scoring the 2 most commonly studied Rorschach (2003) aggression measures: (a) The Elizur (1949) Hostility Scale and its main derivative scoring systems (Holtzman, Thorpe, Swartz, & Herron, 1961; Murstein, 1956) and (b) Holt's (1977, 2005) aggression variables. Substantial reliability was observed for both Elizur's hostility score (e.g., weighted mean summary score correlation = .91, N = 1,279) and Holt's aggression variables (e.g., weighted mean summary score correlation = .84, N = 226). These meta-analytic data suggest that like the contemporary variables included in Exner's Comprehensive System or Gacono and Meloy's (1994) extended aggression scores, the historically important Elizur scoring systems and Holt aggression variables can be scored reliably. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of the Journal of Personality Assessment for the following free supplemental resources: a document of results examining publication source, scoring system, amount of rater training, and severity of aggressive pathology in the sample as potential moderators of reliability.]