Henry Alexander Murray was born on May 13, 1893.

He was an American psychologist.

In 1938 he published Explorations in Personality.

Murray's most significant and well-known contribution

is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a
personality test he developed which involved having
individuals interpret a series of pictures to tell a story.
Murray established, with others, the Psychological
Clinic Annex in 1949.

He received the Scientific Contribution Award from the

American Psychological Association and the Gold
Medal Award for lifetime achievement from the
American Psychological Foundation.

Murray died from pneumonia at the age of 95 on June

23, 1988.
Murray used the term “personology”
to describe his study of human lives
and individual differences in
personality
Henry Murray formulated five principles
of personology.

First principle:
• Personality is rooted in the brain.
• The individual’s cerebral physiology
guides and governs every aspect of
the personality.
 Second principle:

• Involves the idea of tension reduction.

• Murray agreed with other theorists that people act
to reduce physiological and psychological tension,
but this does not mean we strive for a tension free
state.
• It is a process of acting to reduce tension that is
satisfying, according to Murray rather than the
attainment of condition free of all tension.
• Murray believed that a tension-free existence is
itself a source of distress.
 Third principle:
• An individual’s personality continues to
develop over time and is constructed of all
the events that occur during the course of
that person’s life. Therefore, the study of
person’s past is of great importance.

Fourth principle:
• Personality changes and progress; it is not
fixed or static. Emphasize on the uniqueness
of each person.
 Fifth principle:
Fifth, Murray emphasized the uniqueness of each
person while recognizing similarities among all people.

As he saw it, an individual human being is like no

other person, like some other people, and like every
other person.
Divisions of Personology
 Murray divided personality in three parts. For this,
he used Freud’s terms but these terms differ in
interpretation.

• Id

• Superego

• Ego
Id:

➢ Id is the repository of all innate impulsive tendencies.

➢It contains the primitive, amoral, and lusful impulses,

as well as desirable impulses such as empathy and love.

➢ It provides the energy and the direction of behavior

(strength varies)
Id
➢Freud:
Freud said, Id contains primitive, amoral
& lustful impulses.

➢Murray:
Murray believed, Id also contains
soc i a l l y a c c e pt a bl e i m p u l s e s l i k e
empathy and love.
Superego
➢Freud:
Superego stems out after the child identifies with his/her
parents. Superego acts as the parental voice.

➢Murray:
Superego is the internalization of the culture’s values and
norms by which we come to evaluate and judge our behavior
and that of others.
Superego

➢Freud:
Freud said that at the age of 5, the superego is
crystallized.

➢Murray:
Murray suggested that Superego continuously develop
throughout lifetime.
➢ Freud:
The superego is in constant conflict with Id.

➢ Murray:
The superego is not in constant conflict with id
because the Id contains bad and good impulses.
➢ Freud:
When ego acts contrary to the demands of superego
and does not meet its standards, it gives off guilt and
feelings of inferiority

➢ Murray:
Murray believed that superego prevents occurrence of
socially unacceptable impulses and expresses
acceptable needs appropriately.
Ego-ideal
While the superego is developing, so is the ego-
ideal.

Ego ideal represents what we can become at our

best and contains the ideal behaviors that one must
strive.
Ego

➢Ego is the rational governor of personality.

➢He opposes Freud’s contention that ego is the slave

of id, superego and the reality.

➢Ego organizes our behaviors coming from the id

impulse whether good or bad.
Ego
Ego is the central organizer of all behaviors. It
consciously plans courses of action. It suppresses
unaccepted id impulses and promotes acceptable id
impulses.
Ego
➢It is called the arbiter of the two contenders,
id and superego. It may favor one over
the other.

Example
➢Ego supports id. This support leads the
personality towards a life of crime.
Ego
Sometimes, ego may favor both, the id and the
superego.

Example
➢Ego supports both. This thing leads to the harmony
between what a person wants to do and what the
society expects from the person.
Ego
➢In Murray’s system, conflict can arise
between the id and the superego. A strong ego
can mediate effectively between the two, but a
weak ego leaves the personality a battleground.
Henry’s personality theory is organized in terms of
motives, presses, and needs.

Theories of personality based on needs and motives

suggest that our personalities are a reflection of
behaviors controlled by needs.

Some needs are temporary and changing, other needs are

deeply seated in our nature (Cherry, 1945).
Murray defined needs as, "potentiality or readiness to
respond in a certain way under certain given
circumstances" (1938).

Needs energize and direct our behaviors-that is, they

activate behavior in direction to satisfy the needs.

Needs may arise either from internal processes, such

as hunger, or from events in the environment (Cherry,
1945).
 Reactive and Proactive Needs
Reactive Needs:
A response to something specific in the environment and
are aroused only when that object appears. (ex.
harmavoidance)
Proactive Needs:
They are spontaneous needs that elicit appropriate behavior
whenever they are aroused, independent of the
environment.
 Primary and Secondary Needs
Primary Needs: (viscerogenic needs)
These are based on biological demands and arise from
internal bodily processes. These are need for air, food,
water, lactation, and urination.
Secondary Needs: (psychogenic needs)
These needs evolved from primary needs and are
concerned with emotional satisfaction.
Among many psychogenic needs he listed are needs for
achievement, power, play, and order (Cherry, 1945).
According to Murray, these psychogenic needs
function mostly on the unconscious level, but play a
major role in our personality.

Not every person has all these needs.

Murray’s research led him to formulate a list of 20

needs.
Materialistic Needs
 Acquisition:

Needs related to obtaining things. People who have

high need for acquisition want to gain possessions and
property. They grasp, snatch, steal or gamble (Cherry,
1945).

Example: Gamblers, thieves, etc.

 Order:

It is related to organize, arrange things in order to

achieve neatness. People who have higher need for
order always want to be clean, neat and tidy. They try
to make their surroundings neat by putting things in
order (Cherry, 1945).

Example: House wives, etc.

 Retention:

Need for retention involves keeping things. People who

have need for retention refuse to give or lend things,
they try to retain possessions of things (Cherry, 1945).

Example: Miser, economical, etc.

 Construction:

People have a need for creating and

organizing new things (Cherry, 1945).

Example: Chefs, artists etc.

 Achievement:
It involves overcoming obstacles and attaining high
standards. It also includes exercising power, to strive to
do something difficult and as quickly as possible. It is a
need to surpass others (Cherry, 1945).
Example: Suppose you have a big test tomorrow, but
your friends are having a party tonight. If your need for
achievement is higher on your need of affiliation or
play, you will probably stay with your
books.
 Exhibition:

It is a need to attract attention to one’s self, to excite,

amuse or thrill others. It involves showing off and the
need to be seen and heard (Cherry, 1945).

Example: People do odd makeup, wear odd dress

codes or striking/bright colors.
 Recognition:

It involves the need for receiving credit for action.

People with need for recognition want to display
achievement, gain social status and demand respect.
(Cherry, 1945).

Example: CEO, administrative head, etc.

 The need of power refers to the desire or need to
impact other people, to control or be in position of
influence (Cherry, 1945).
Example, teachers, journalist, etc.
 Abasement
Confessing and apologizing.
It means to submit passively to external force. To
accept injury, blame , criticism and punishment. To
become resigned to fate. To admit inferiority, error,
wrong doing, or defeat. To seek and enjoy pain,
punishment, illness and misfortune
 INDEPENDENCE AND RESISTENCE .

It means to get free off restraint, or break out of

confinement. To resist coercion and restriction. To be
independent and free to act according to impulse . To
defy conventions.
Attacking and ridiculing others.

To overcome opposition forcefully. To fight, attack,

injure, or kill another. To maliciously belittle,
censure, or ridicule another.
 Following the rule and avoiding blame.

For example in college, a student will follow the

rules and regulations and will definitely try to avoid
blames and punishments to get a secure position in
the college.
 Obeying and cooperating with others.

To admire and support a superior person. To yield

eagerly to the influence of allied others. To conform
to custom.
 Controlling others.

To control one’s environment, to influence and

direct the behavior of others by suggestion, seduction,
persuasion or command. To get others to cooperate .
To convince another of the rightness of one’s opinion.
 People with a high need for attachment have a
larger social circle. They spend more time in
interacting with others and they are more likely to
be the members of social clubs or groups (Cherry,
1945).
 AFFILIATION

Spending time with other people.

It means to draw near and enjoyably cooperate or

reciprocate with an allied person who resembles
one or who likes one. To adhere and remain loyal to
a friend.
 Taking care of another person.

To give sympathy to and gratify the needs of a

helpless person, an infant or one who is week,
disabled, tried, inexperienced, infirm, humiliated,
lonely, dejected or mentally confused.
 Having fun with others.

To act or fun without further purpose. To like a laugh

and make jokes. To seek enjoyable relaxation of stress.
To participate in games, supports, dancing and playing
cards.
 Rejecting other people.

To exclude, abandon, expel, or remain indifferent

to an inferior person. To snub or jilt another person.
 Being helped or protected by others.

It means to be nursed, supported, sustained,

surrounded, protected, loved, advised, guided,
indulged, forgiven or consoled. To remain close to a
devoted protector.
 Information need is a need to be constantly informed
and aware about the world and its happenings. People
with this need want to analyze and gain experience
and can help others by sharing their knowledge.
 COGNIZANCE
To speculate, formulate, analyze and generalize.
Seeking knowledge and asking questions.

For example in a class students seek knowledge and

ask questions from teachers to fulfill their information
need and to become more acknowledged.
 Educating others.

By educating others u can get more knowledge. The

process of seeking knowledge never stops. For
example, teachers educate students and gain more
knowledge and can fulfill their information need and
desire for knowledge.
• Each need is important in itself but needs can be
interrelated, can support other needs and can also
conflict with other needs (Cherry, 1945).
For example, the need for dominance may conflict with
the need for affiliation when overly controlling behavior
drives away friends, family, and romantic partner.
• Murray also believed that environmental factors play a
role in how these psychogenic needs are displayed in
behavior. He called these environmental forces
“PRESSES”.
 NEED’S PREPOTENCY :
Needs differ in terms of the urgency with which they
impel behavior. This characteristic of the needs is
called Need’s Prepotency.

FUSION OF NEEDS :
Some needs are complementary and can be satisfied
by one behavior or a set of behaviors. This is called
Fusion of Needs.
 Subsidiation:
It is a situation in which one need is activated to aid
in the satisfaction of another need.

For example, To satisfy the affiliation need by being

in the company of other people, it may be necessary
to act deferentially towards them, thus invoking the
deference need. In this case, the deference need is
subsidiary to the affiliation need.
 The influence of the environment and past events on
the current activation of a need is called PRESS.

For example, Murray recognized that childhood events

can effect the development of specific needs and,
later in life, can activate those needs. He called this
influence Press because an environmental object or
event presses or pressures the individual to act in a
certain way
 A combination of press (the environment) and
the need(the personality) that brings order to our
behavior. It is also called UNITY THEMA.

The thema is formed through early childhood

experiences and becomes powerful force in
determining personality. Largely unconscious, the
thema relates needs and presses in a pattern that
gives coherence, unity, uniqueness and order our
behavior (Cherry, 1945).
➢ Drawing on Freud’s work, Murray divided childhood
into 5 stages. Each stage is characterized by a
pleasurable condition that is inevitably terminated by
demands of the society (Murray, 1938).

➢ Eachstage leaves its mark on our personality in the

form of an unconscious complex that directs our later
development.
 Definition of Complex:
To Murray, complex is “A normal pattern of
childhood development that influences the adult
personality” (Murray, 1938).

According to Murray, everyone passes through

5 developmental stages and also experiences 5
complexes associated with these stages (Murray,
1938).
 There is nothing abnormal about these complexes
except when they are manifested in extreme
conditions, that leaves a person fixated at that stage.

As a result, the personality is then unable to

develop spontaneity and flexibility, and this
situation interferes with the formation of ego and
super-ego (Murray, 1938).
1. Claustral Stage (Claustral Complexes).

2. Oral Stage (Oral Complexes).

3. Anal Stage (Anal Complexes).

4. Urethral Stage (Urethral Complex).

5. Genital Stage (Genital or Castration Complex).

Claustral stage comprises of the secure, serene and
dependent existence of fetus within the womb.

Basically, these are the conditions we may all

occasionally wish to reinstate (Murray, 1938).
a) Simple Claustral Complex:
In this complex, the person has a desire to be in
small, warm, dark places that are safe and secluded.
For example, one might long to remain under the
blankets instead of getting out of bed in the
morning.
People with this complex show: need to reinstate
womb-like conditions, dependency on others,
passive tendencies and are oriented to past and also
they don’t like to change (Murray, 1938).
b) Insupport form of Claustral Complex:
This complex is related to feelings of insecurity,
lack of trust and helplessness, fear of open places,
falling, drowning, fires, earthquakes or any situation
of novelty and change (Murray, 1938).
c) Anti-claustral Complex (Egression form):
People with this complex show: a need to
escape from restraining womb-like conditions; fear
of suffocation; preference for open spaces, fresh air,
travel, movement, change and novelty (Murray,
1938).
This stage comprises of sensuous enjoyment of
sucking nourishment through mother’s breasts.

There are 3 types of Oral Complexes associated

with this stage of development (Murray, 1938).
a) Oral Succorance Complex:
This complex is related to a combination of
mouth activities (sucking, kissing, eating, drinking),
passive tendencies, need to be protected and
supported. People with this complex also show
hunger for affection and love (Murray, 1938).
b) Oral Aggression Complex:
This complex is a combination of oral and
aggressive behaviors such as biting, spitting,
shouting and verbal aggression e.g. sarcasm
(Murray, 1938).
c) Oral Rejection Complex:
This complex includes vomiting, being picky about
food, eating less, fearing oral contamination (such as
from kissing), desiring seclusion and avoiding
dependence on others (Murray, 1938).
This stage consists of pleasures resulting from
defecation as children become aware of toilet
related activities.
a) Anal Rejection Complex:
People with this complex are disorganized, dirty,
pre-occupied with defecation, anal humor, feces-like
material (mud, plaster etc.) and are fond of activities
involving aggression such as dropping and throwing
things, firing guns (Murray, 1938).
b) Anal Retention Complex:
This complex is characterized by accumulating,
saving and collecting things, neatness, cleanliness
and orderliness (Murray, 1938).
This stage is associated with the pleasure
accompanying urination.

Urethral Complex:
This complex is associated with excessive ambition,
exhibitionism, distorted sense of self-esteem, bed-
wetting, sexual cravings, self-love (narcissism)
(Murray, 1938).
This complex is sometimes referred to as ‘Icarus
Complex’, named after mythical Greek figure
who flew so close to the sun that the wax holding
his wings melted (Murray, 1938).

Like Icarus, people show high ambitions and their

dreams are shattered by failure.
This stage is accompanied by genital pleasures.

Genital / Castration Complex:

This complex is related to the anxiety evoked by the
fantasy that the penis might be cut off (Murray,
1938).
Such a fear grows out of childhood masturbation
and parental punishment that may have
accompanied it (Murray, 1938).
 Murray gave images of human nature according to
his personality theory.

1. Equilibrium vs. Growth:

In Equilibrium vs. Growth issue, Murray gave
his viewpoint that ‘growth’ is responsible for shaping
our personalities.
According to Murray, our goal is not tension-free
state but the satisfaction achieved by acting to reduce
the tension (Shneidman, 1981).
2. Free-will vs. Determinism:
Murray explained this issue of human nature by
creating a balance between the two.
According to him, free-will and determinism both
are responsible in shaping our personality.
He was of the view that personality is determined by
our needs and our environment. Moreover, he
explained that free-will is also responsible for growth
and change (Shneidman, 1981).
3. Uniqueness vs. Universality:
There exists a balance between uniqueness and
universality according to Murray’s personality theory.

He believed that every person is unique, meaning

that there are distinct characteristics which are
responsible for shaping one’s personality (Shneidman,
1981).

Also, he was of the view that there exist similarities

between all of our personalities.
4. Nature vs. Nurture:
Murray believed that both nature and nurture are
responsible for shaping one’s personality.
He suggested that inherited attributes as well as the
environment play an equal role throughout the
personality development.
It means we cannot understand human personality
unless we accept the impact of physiological forces in
our physical, social and cultural environments
(Shneidman, 1981).
5. Optimism vs. Pessimism:
Murray’s view of human nature was optimistic,
which means that through positive thinking, we have a
hopeful view about the future and we are capable of
solving our problems through reasoning, creativity and
imagination (Shneidman, 1981).
He criticized the psychology that projected a
negative image of human beings.
6. Past vs. Present:
Murray explained this image of human nature by
creating a balance between the two (Murray, 1938).

He was of the view that not only the childhood

experiences are responsible for shaping our
personality because the childhood complexes affect
our development unconsciously, but personality is also
determined by present events and aspirations for the
future (Shneidman, 1981).
➢ Murray’s techniques for assessing personality differ
from those of Freud and the other neopsychoanalytic
theorists. Because Murray was not working with
emotionally disturbed persons, he did not use such
standard psychoanalytic techniques as free
association and dream analysis.

The Thematic Apperception Test

 The Thematic Apperception Test
The TAT consists of a set of ambiguous pictures
depicting simple scenes. It is a projective and
subjective test that is used for assessing unconscious
thoughts, feelings, and fears.
➢ Ituses a standard series of provocative yet ambiguous
pictures about which the subject is asked to tell
a story. The subject is asked to tell as dramatic a story
as they can for each picture presented, including the
following:
what has led up to the event shown
what is happening at the moment
what the characters are feeling and thinking
what the outcome of the story was
 Murray has exerted an impressive and lasting
influence on the study of personality. Of particular
importance is his list of needs, which is of continuing
value for research, clinical diagnosis, and employee
selection, and his techniques for assessing
personality. Overall, these innovations, and the
personal impact he made on at least two generations
of personology researchers at Harvard, have had a
more lasting effect than the details of his theory.