Henry Alexander Murray

1893 - 1988

PREPARED BY: QUEENCY A. MACATANGAY

MA IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
 Biographical Background
 Born on May 13, 1893 and grew up in New York City.

 He was afflicted with crossed eyes without stereoscopic vision.

 Married to Josephine Rantual in 1916.

 Developed the Theory of Personology.

 In 1988, Murray died at the age of 95 due to Pneumonia.

 Education
 Earned his bachelor degree in History in 1915 from Harvard
University.

 In 1919 he graduated from Columbia University Medical

School as the top of his class.

 He also earned his MA in Biology from Columbia in 1920 and

taught Physiology at Harvard University.

 Served 2 years of internship in Surgery at New York Hospital.

 He spent 2 years at the Rockefeller Institute conducting

biomedical research in Embryology.

 In 1927, he received his Ph.D in Biochemistry from Cambridge

University
 Life and Career
 In 1923, Murray faced a serious problem, he had fallen in love
with Christiana Morgan.

 Christiana Morgan suggested to meet Carl Jung in Zurich in

1925.

 In 1930s he developed Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

together with Christiana Morgan. TAT became a best-seller for
Harvard University Press.

 In 1938, he published Explorations in Personality: A Clinical

and Experimental Study of Fifty Men of College Age.
 Life and Career
 During World War II, he joined the US Army and became the
director of assessment for the Office of Strategic Services.

 In 1951, he published an analysis of the psychological

meaning of Melville’s novel Moby-Dick

 Murray remained at Harvard until his retirement in 1962.

 He received the American Psychological Foundation’s Gold

Medal Award and the American Psychological Association’s
Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award.
 Principles of Personology - Murray’s system/study of personality.
 First Principle is that 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.

 Third Principle is that an individual’s personality continues to

develop over time and is constructed of all the events that occur
during that person’s life.

 Fourth Principle involves the idea that personality changes and

progresses.

 Fifth Principle emphasized the uniqueness of each person while

recognizing similarities among all people.
 Divisions of Personality
 The Id

• To Murray, id contains the primitive, amoral, and lustful impulses

described by Freud, but it also contains desirable impulses

• However, in Murray’s personology system the id also

encompasses innate impulses that society considers acceptable
and desirable.
 Divisions of Personality
 The Superego

• Murray defined superego as the internalization of the culture’s

values and norms, which rules we come to evaluate and judge
our behavior and that of others.

• According to him, the superego is not rigidly crystallized by the

age of 5, as what Freud believed, but it continues to develop
throughout life.

• Ego-Ideal provides us with long-range goals for which to strive.

 Divisions of Personality
 The Ego

• Murray extended Freud’s formulation of ego by proposing that

the ego is the central organizer of behavior.

• The ego is also the arbiter between the id and the superego
and may favor one over the other

• The ego may also integrate these two aspects of personality so

that what we want to do (id) is in harmony with what society
believes what we should do (superego)
 Human Need
 According to Murray, need is a construct representing a force
in the brain that organizes our perception, understanding,
and behavior in such a way as to change unsatisfying
situation and increase our satisfaction.
 Human Needs
 Types of Needs
 Primary and Secondary Needs

• Primary Needs (Viscerogenic Needs) arise from internal

bodily states and include those needs required for
survival.

• Secondary Needs (Psychogenic Needs) arise indirectly

from primary needs.
 Types of Needs
 Reactive and Proactive Needs

• Reactive Needs involve a response to something specific

in the environment and aroused only when that object
appears.

• Proactive Needs do not depend on the presence of a

particular object.
 Characteristics of Needs
 Needs differ in terms of urgency with which they impel
behavior, a characteristics Murray called a need’s
prepotency.

 Some needs are complementary and can be satisfied by one

behavior or a set of behaviors, Murray called this a fusion of
needs.
 Characteristics of Needs
 Subsidiation refers to a situation in which one need is
activated to aid in satisfying another need.

 Press is the influence of the environment and past events on

the current activation of a need.

 Thema (unity thema) is a combination of press and need that

brings the order to our behavior.
 Personality Development in Childhood
• Complex, according to Murray is a normal pattern of
childhood development that influences the adult personality.

• Childhood developmental stages include the claustral, oral,

anal, urethral, and genital complexes.
 Questions About Human Nature
 According to Murray, our goal is not a tension-free state but
rather the satisfaction derived from acting to reduce the
tension.

 Murray argued that personality is determined by our needs

and by the environment.

 He also believed that we are shaped by our inherited

attributes and by our environment; each is of roughly equal
influence.

 Murray’s view of human nature was optimistic

 The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
 TAT is consist of a set of ambiguous pictures depicting simples
scenes.

 Murray derived the TAT, which is a projective technique, from

Freud’s defense mechanism of projection.

 TAT is a device for assessing unconscious thoughts, feelings,

and fears.
 Murray’s Theory
 Murray was not working with emotionally disturbed persons,
he did not use such standard psychoanalytic techniques as
free association and dream analysis.

 Considerable research has been conducted on several of

the needs Murray proposed, notably the affiliation and
achievement needs.
 Murray’s Theory

 The Need for Affiliation

• Research has found that people who score

high in affiliation need are unpopular, apt to
avoid interpersonal conflicts and likely to be
unsuccessful as business manager.
 Murray’s Theory

 The Need for Achievement

• Murray defined it as the need to overcome

obstacles, to excel, and to live up to a high
standard.

• Those found to be high in the achievement need

are typically middle-class, have better memory
for uncompleted tasks, are more active in
college and community activities, and are more
resistant to social pressures.
 Murray’s Theory
 Murray has exerted an impressive and lasting influence
on the study of personality.

 Particular importance is his lists of needs and his

techniques for assessing personality.
 Concept of Humanity
 Freewill Vs. Determinism – Both are responsible in shaping our
personality. He was of the view that personality is determined by
our needs and our environment. He also explained that free-will is
also responsible for growth and change.

 Uniqueness Vs. Similarities – He believed that every person is

unique. There are distinct characteristics which are responsible
for shaping one’s personality.
 Concept of Humanity
 Biological Vs. Social Influences – Both nature and nurture are
responsible for shaping once personality. Murray suggested that
the inherited attributes as well as the environment play an equal
role throughout the personality development.

 Optimism Vs. Pessimism – High in optimism. Through positive

thinking, we have a hopeful view about the future and we are
capable of solving our problems through reasoning, creativity
and imagination
 Concept of Humanity
 Causality Vs. Theology – 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.
 References:

 Engler, B. (2012). Theories of Personality, Philippine Edition.

Philippines: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd (Philippine
Branch)

 Schultz and Schultz (2009). Personality Theory, Ninth Edition.

United States of America: Michelle Sordi