Szondi

Szondi is a surname of Hungarian origin. It is most famously associated with Leopold Szondi, a Hungarian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Szondi developed his own theory of personality and diagnosis known as the Szondi Test or the Fate Analysis. This test was a projective technique designed to reveal unconscious drives and obsessions by having individuals choose photographs that appealed to them. The theory posited that individuals are driven by inherited genetic forces that manifest as a need to fulfill specific "fate vectors."

The Szondi Test involved presenting a series of photographs depicting individuals with various psychological conditions, such as homosexuals, sadists, epileptics, hysterics, and manic-depressives. Participants were asked to select the photos that they found most appealing and most repellent. The choices were then interpreted according to Szondi's theoretical framework, aiming to understand the individual's repressed desires and potential psychological predispositions.

Leopold Szondi was born in 1893 and died in 1986. His work, particularly the Szondi Test, gained some popularity in the mid-20th century, but it has also faced significant criticism regarding its scientific validity and theoretical underpinnings. While not as widely used in contemporary psychology as other diagnostic tools, Szondi's theories remain a subject of interest in the history of psychoanalysis and depth psychology. The surname itself, outside of the context of the psychiatrist, is found among people of Hungarian descent.