Editing Thematic Apperception Test (section)

==Contemporary applications==
Despite criticisms, the TAT continues to be used as a tool for [[research]] into areas of psychology such as [[dream]]s, [[Fantasy (psychology)|fantasies]], [[Mate choice|mate selection]] and what motivates people to choose their [[profession|occupation]]. Sometimes it is used in a psychiatric or psychological context to assess [[personality disorder]]s, [[Schizophrenia|thought disorders]], in [[Forensic psychology|forensic examinations]] to evaluate crime suspects, or to screen candidates for [[Stress (medicine)|high-stress]] occupations.  It is also commonly used in routine psychological evaluations, typically without a formal scoring system, as a way to explore emotional conflicts and [[Object relations theory|object relations]].<ref>Cramer, 2004</ref>

TAT is widely used in [[France]] and [[Argentina]] using a psychodynamic approach.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

[[David McClelland]] and Ruth Jacobs conducted a 12-year longitudinal study of leadership using TAT and found no gender differences in motivational predictors of attained management level. The content analysis, however, "revealed 2 distinct styles of power-related themes that distinguished the successful men from the successful women. The successful male managers were more likely to use reactive power [that is, aggressive<ref name="Austin2001">{{cite book |author=Linda Gong Austin |title=What's Holding You Back?: Eight Critical Choices For Women's Success |page=158 |date=2001 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-03263-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHTSA5SiMMMC&pg=PT158 |access-date=2019-06-25 |archive-date=2022-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407010348/https://books.google.com/books?id=SHTSA5SiMMMC&pg=PT158 |url-status=live }}</ref>] themes while the successful female managers were more likely to use resourceful [that is, nurturing<ref name="Austin2001"/>] power themes. Differences between the sexes in the power themes were less pronounced among the managers who had remained in lower levels of management."<ref>Jacobs, R. L., & McClelland, D. C. (1994), "Moving up the corporate ladder: A longitudinal study of the leadership motive pattern and managerial success in women and men", Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 46(1), 32-41. {{doi|10.1037/1061-4087.46.1.32}}</ref>