Edwin E. Wagner

Professor Edwin E. Wagner, Ph.D., is the principal proponent and author of "The Hand Test". Dr. Wagner has authored over 200 publications in psychology including manuals, reviews, monographs, books and journal articles.

Born in 1930 in Philadelphia, PA, he received his B.A. in Psychology (summa cum laude) (1956), M.A. in Psychology (1957) and Ph.D. in Psychology (1959) all from Temple University. Dr. Wagner’s academic appointments include Instructor at Pennsylvania State University and Temple University, Professor Emeritus at University of Akron, and Dean at Forest Institute of Professional Psychology (Huntsville, AL).

Dr. Wagner has received the following professional honors: ABPP (Clinical and Counseling) ABAP (American Board of Assessment Psychology) Fellow, Society for Personality Assessment Fellow, APA Division 12

He has practiced privately in Akron, Ohio and in Huntsville, Alabama (assessment of pain patients for Alabama Pain Center and counseling). Dr. Wagner is licensed in Counseling Psychology in the State of South Carolina.

A widower, Dr. Wagner has two sons: Eric and Matthew. Dr. Wagner has recently remarried.

The Hand Test

The Hand Test is a projective technique that utilizes ten unbound 3.5 x 4.5 inch cards, nine with simple line drawings of single hands (and one blank card), to measure how the viewer interprets what each hand is doing (the blank card is left to the imagination of viewer). Verbal responses are given or “projected” by the viewer, and the results are recorded, scored and interpreted by the administrator.

First developed in the early 1960’s in reaction to professional controversy over projective techniques like the Rorschach, Dr. Wagner presented the Hand Test as a “starting point” or “narrow band” instrument that “does not necessarily measure all major aspects of personality but does assess the individual’s behavioral tendencies.” (Wagner, 1983). For over forty years, this method has been proven to be effective in measuring overt and aggressive behavior. According to Western Psychological Services, the Hand Test has been administered to well over one million people.

Publications

Books

• Edwin E. Wagner. "The Hand Test, Revised ed." 1983: Manual. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.)
• Glenn R. Young and Edwin E. Wagner. "The Hand Test : advances in application and research. Malabar, Fla. : Krieger Pub. Co., 1999. ISBN 1575240556
  • Review: by Petersorn CA Journal of Personality Assessment 76 (1): 185-188 Feb 2001

• Paul E. Panek and Edwin E. Wagner, "The use of the Hand test with older adults" Springfield, Ill., U.S.A. : Thomas, c1985. ISBN 0398051119
• Edwin E. Wagner and Carol F. Wagner, "The interpretation of projective test data : theoretical and practical guidelines." Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A. : C.C. Thomas, c1981. ISBN 0398046026

Articles

The 3 most highly cited among his over 100 peer-reviewed articles are

• Wagner, EE & Heise, MR, "Comparison of Rorschach Records of 3 Multiple Personalities." Journal of Personality Assessment 38 (4): 308-331 1974 (cited 45 times)
• Wagner, EE "Structural Analysis: Theory of Personality Based or Projective Testing" Journal of Personality Assessment 35 (5): 422-435 1971 (cited 34 times)
• Coursol, A & Wagner, EE "Effect of positive Findings of Submission and Acceptance Rates: a Note on Metaanalysis Bias" Professional Psychology: Research and practice 17 (2): 136-137 Apr 1986 (cited 32 times)

External links

• Western Psychological Services home page