Traps of psychological diagnosis on the example of the Barnum effect and the so-called syndrome of adult children from dysfunctional families
Traps of psychological diagnosis on the example of the Barnum effect and the so-called syndrome of adult children from dysfunctional families

Summary/Abstract: The notion of adult children of dysfunctional families has been present for several years in psychological and self-help literature. It arouses controversy due to ambiguity of its definition and unclear diagnosis criteria. The author has attempted to verify empirically the so-called ACDFs (adult children of dysfunctional families) control list, treated as a diagnostic tool. The second research aim is the verification of Barnum effect in Polish circumstances, the psychological mechanism which can crucially distort diagnostic conduct. The survey done showed the lack of diagnostic usefulness of most of the ideas connected with the so-called ACDFs control list, the larger part of which has a non-specific, that is of Barnum.

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