SURANA EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

NAME: Parvathitanu G Prasad

CLASS: MSc

SUBJECT :1.1 THEORITICAL PERSPECTIVE IN

PSYCHOLOGY UNIT 5

TOPIC: HENRY MURRAY: PERSONOLOGY

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INDEX

1. SUBUNIT 1: INTRODUCTION
2. SUBUNIT 2: PRINCIPLES OF PERSONOLOGY
3. SUBUNIT 3: THE DIVISION OF PERSONALITY
 THE ID
 THE SUPEREGO
 THE EGO
4. SUBUNIT 4: NEEDS THE MOTIVATOR’S OF BEHAVIOUR
 TYPES OF NEEDS
 CHARACTERISTICS OF NEEDS
5. SUBUNIT 5: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDHOOD
 COMPLEXES
 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
6. SUBINIT 6: ASSESSMENT IN MURRAY’S THEORY
 THE OSS ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
 THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST
 SITUATION TEST
7. SUBINIT 7: REFLECTIONS ON MURRAY’S THEORY AND
APPLICATIONS

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INTRODUCTION
An approach to personality that Henry Murray developed takes into account conscious and
unconscious processes, the influence of the past, present, and future, as well as the impact of
physiological and sociological elements. The impact of Freudian psychoanalysis may be
observed in Murray's understanding of how childhood experiences affect adult behaviour as
well as in his concepts of the id, ego, and superego. Although Freud's influence is obvious,
Murray provided original explanations for these phenomena. His differences from traditional
psychoanalysis are so profound that his school of thought should be included with the neo-
Freudians rather than the Freudian followers.

In order to provide a framework into which any particular incident in a person's life, whether
natural or experimental, may be fitted, he proposed that the field of psychology develop a
scheme of concepts for depicting the full path of individual development. Personology was
therefore founded on case histories that were based on behavioural observations, the subject's
memories, and introspective thoughts. These case histories featured an ordered collection of
data relevant to the long sequence of complex events from human conception to death.

A sophisticated approach to human needs and the data source on which Murray based his
theory are two important aspects of his system. Even today, his suggested list of needs is still
regularly applied to clinical therapy, personality research, and evaluation. His data, in
contrast to those other theorists come from what are considered to be "normal individuals"
(male undergraduate students at Harvard University) as opposed to people receiving
psychotherapy. Additionally, some of the data were not acquired from case histories but
rather from laboratory procedures with a stronger empirical foundation.

Murray recruited and trained a huge number of psychologists, many of whom have since
attained recognition and continued his teachings. This was possible due to his long
relationship with a major university rather than relative isolation in a clinic or private practise
and due to his personal charm.

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SUBUNIT: PRINCIPLES OF PERSONOLOGY
Personality is embedded in the brain, according to Murray's first principle of personology, his
term for the study of personality. Every part of a person's personality is governed and guided
by their cerebral physiology. One basic instance of this is how some medicines can change
how the brain functions and, as a result, how a person behaves. The brain contains all of the
components of personality, including feelings, memories (conscious and unconscious),
beliefs, attitudes, fears, and values.

The concept of tension reduction is Murray's system's second principle. Murray accepted with
Freud and other thinkers that people behave in ways that minimise their physiological
personologies. Murray's theory of personality links psychological tension to tension, but this
does not imply that we aim for a state of no tension

Murray argues that rather than achieving a condition free of all tension, what is fulfilling is
the act of trying to lessen tension. According to Murray, living in a stress-free environment
can be distressing in and of itself. We require movement, action, and excitement, all of which
involve raising stress rather than lowering it. To enjoy the satisfaction of relieving tension,
we create it. Murray thought that human nature should always have a certain amount of
tension to release.

The third principle of Murray's personology is that each person's personality evolves through
time and is made up of all the experiences they have during their lifetime. As a result,
researching someone's past is crucial.

The fourth principle of Murray is that personality is dynamic and evolving, not set or
unchanging.

Fifth, Murray underlined how different each person is while yet pointing out how similar we
all are. An individual human being, in his opinion, is unlike any other human being, like
some other human beings, and like every other human being.

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SUBUNIT: MURRAY’S VIEW ON DIVISIONS OF
PERSONALITY

THE ID

Murray used the Freudian words id, superego, and ego to divide personality into three
sections, but his ideas differ from those of Freud.

Like Freud, Murray proposed that all intrinsic impulsive tendencies are stored in the id. As a
result, it gives energy and focus to behaviour and is driven by motivation. The primordial,
immoral, and sexual impulses Freud outlined are contained in the id. The id in Murray's
personology concept also includes innate urges that society views as good and acceptable,
though. Here, we can see the shadow archetype of Jung, which has both good and evil
qualities. The id includes the qualities of empathy, imitation, and identification as well as for
non-lustful types of love and the capacity to control one's environment.

Individuals differ in the strength or intensity of their id. For example, one person's appetites
and emotions may be more intense than another's. As a result, the problem of controlling and
directing the id forces is not the same for everyone because some of us have more id energy
to deal with.

THE SUPEREGO

The internalisation of cultural values and norms—the standards by which we come to assess
and criticise our own behaviour as well as that of others—is what Murray described as the
superego. Children are exposed to the superego's content at a young age by their parents and
other authoritative individuals.

The superego may also be shaped by one's peer group, the literature, and the mythology of
one's culture. Murray departed from Freud's theories in this way by allowing for influences
outside of the context of parent-child contact. While Murray disagrees with Freud's theory
that the superego is rigidly formed by the age of five, but it develops through one’s life.

As we age, our experiences become more complicated and sophisticated, according to Freud,
yet his theory still evolves today.

Because the id has both positive and evil energies, it does not constantly oppose the superego
as Freud suggested. It's not necessary to stifle the good forces. The superego serves to decide

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when, where, and how an acceptable urge can be expressed and satisfied in addition to trying
to suppress socially inappropriate impulses.

The ego-ideal, which gives us long-term objectives to work for, is developing as the superego
is. The ego-ideal is the culmination of all of our goals and desires, and it reflects who we
could be at our best.

THE EGO

The undesirable Id's impulses are attempted to be modified or postponed by the ego, the
rational supervisor of the personality. Murray expanded on Freud's ego theory by arguing that
the ego serves as the primary organiser of conduct. It deliberates, chooses, and wills the
course of behaviour. Therefore, the ego influences conduct more actively than Freud thought.
The ego actively plans actions and is not solely the servant the Id. In addition to suppressing
id pleasure, it also serves to promote pleasure by coordinating and guiding the manifestation
of appropriate id impulses.

The ego also serves as a mediator between the id and the superego, with the potential to
favour one over the other. For instance, the personality might be directed into a life of crime
if the ego prefers the id. These two divisions of our personalities may also be combined by
the ego so that our desires (id) are in line with what we should do according to society
(superego).

In Murray's system, there is potential for conflict to develop between the id and the superego.
A powerful ego can successfully mediate conflict between the two, while a poor ego turns the
personality into a battlefield. Murray, in contrast to Freud, did not think that this tension was
unavoidable.

SUBUNIT: MURRAY’S NEEDS: MOTIVTORS OF

BEHAVIOUR
Murray's use of the idea of needs to describe the motivation and course of action is his most
significant contribution to personality theory and research. The core of the business, he
claimed, is motivation, which is always related to some aspect of the organism.

A physicochemical force in the brain called a need organises and controls cognitive and
perceptual processes. Needs might develop as a result of environmental events or internal
processes like hunger or thirst. Needs cause a certain amount of tension, which the organism

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attempts to lessen by meeting the need. Therefore, needs motivate and guide behaviour. They
encourage behaviour to go in the right direction to meet the needs.

Murray developed a list of needs as a result of his investigation. These needs are not all
present in every person. One may satisfy all of these requirements over their lifetime, or one
might never satisfy some of them. Some needs conflict with other needs, while others support
them.

Types of Needs

Primary and Secondary needs. Primary needs, also known as viscerogenic needs, are those
necessary for survival (such as food, water, air, and the avoidance of harm), as well as other
wants like sex and sentience. In a way Murray did not make explicit, secondary needs
(psychogenic needs) result indirectly from fundamental needs but don't have a clear origin in
the body. They are referred to as secondary needs not because they are less significant than
fundamental wants, but rather because they arise later. Most of the wants on Murray's initial
list of secondary needs are motivated by emotional fulfilment.

Reactive and proactive needs. Reactive needs are only triggered when a certain object in the
environment does, and they include a reaction to that object. For instance, the harm-
avoidance need only manifests in the presence of a threat. A specific object is not necessary
for the fulfilment of proactive needs. They are involuntary needs that, regardless of the
situation, when arouse, prompt proper response. For instance, when someone is hungry, they
seek food to meet their need rather than waiting for a stimulus like a hamburger commercial
on television. Proactive needs come about naturally, whereas reactive needs are a response to
a specific object.

CHARACTERISTICS OF NEEDS

Needs differ in the urgency with which they motivate behaviour, which Murray refers to as a
need's prepotency. For example, if the needs for air and water are not met, they come to
dominate behaviour, taking precedence over all other needs.

Some needs are complementary and can be met by a single behaviour or a set of behaviours.
Murray referred to this as a fusion of needs. For example, we can satisfy our needs for
achievement, dominance, and autonomy by working to gain fame and wealth.

Subsidization refers to a situation in which one need is activated to help satisfy another need.
To satisfy the affiliation need by being in the company of other people, for example, it may
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be

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necessary to act deferentially toward them, invoking the deference need. In this case, the
deference need it is secondary to the affiliation demand.

Murray recognised that childhood events can influence the development of specific needs as
well as their activation later in life. He called this influence press because an environmental
object or event presses or pressures the individual to act in a particular manner.

Murray introduced the idea of thema because there could be a relationship between need and
pressure (or unity thema). The reasons that influence or compel our conduct are a
combination of personal (needs) and environmental forces, or the thema (presses).

Early life events shape the thema, which becomes a significant factor in determining
personality. The thema, which is largely unconscious, links needs and urges in a pattern that
offers human conduct coherence, unity, order, and individuality.

IMAGE BY SLIDESHARE BY SHAISTHA BHATT

IMAGE BY SLIDESHARE BY SHAISTHA BHATT

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SUBUNIT: PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDHOOD

COMPLEXES

Murray split childhood into five stages, each characterised by a joyful situation that is
inevitably terminated by society's expectations, drawing inspiration from Freud's work. Each
stage leaves a subconscious complex that guides our eventual growth in the form of a mark
on our personality.

Because everyone goes through the identical developmental stages, according to Murray,
everyone experiences these five complexes. Except when they are extreme manifestations,
which is a situation that causes the person to get fixated at that point, they are not unusual in
any way. This prevents the personality from becoming spontaneous and flexible, which
hinders the development of the ego and superego.

STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

The Claustral Stage

We might all periodically want to recreate the conditions that the foetus in the womb
experiences: security, serenity, and dependence. The basic claustral complex manifests as a
desire to be in cosy, enclosed spaces that are small, warm, and dark. One can yearn to stay in
bed all day instead of getting out of bed, for instance. People with this complex are more
likely to be submissive, reliant on others, and inclined to safe, tried-and-true activities. The
insufficiency version of the claustral complex is centred on feelings of powerlessness and
insecurity that make a person afraid of flames, earthquakes, open spaces, falling, and other
novel and changing situations.

The claustral complex's anti-claustral or egressive version is motivated by a desire to leave

constricting womblike surroundings. It shows as a preference for open spaces, fresh air,
travel, mobility, change, and novelty and includes a fear of suffocation and confinement.

The Oral Stage

A combination of mouth movements, passive inclinations, and the need to receive support
and protection make up the oral succorance complex. Sucking, kissing, eating, drinking, and
a desire for love, support, and affection are some behavioural manifestations. In the oral
aggressiveness complex, violent oral actions including biting, spitting, yelling, and verbal

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aggression like sarcasm are all combined. Vomiting, being selective with food, eating little,
fearing oral contamination (such as from kissing), wanting seclusion, and avoiding
dependency on others are all behaviours associated with the oral rejection complex.

The Anal Phase

Anal humour, faeces, and faeces-like substances including dirt, muck, plaster, and clay are
preoccupations in the anal rejection complex. This complex frequently includes aggression,
which manifests as dropping and hurling objects, firing guns, and detonating explosives.
These individuals could be messy and chaotic. Accumulating, preserving, and collecting
items as well as maintaining cleanliness, orderliness, and neatness are all signs of the anal
retention complex.

The Urethral Stage

The urethral complex, which is exclusive to Murray's system, is linked to excessive ambition,
a warped sense of self-worth, exhibitionism, bedwetting, sexual desires, and self-love. In
honour of the ancient Greek character Icarus who flew so close to the sun that the wax
binding his wings melted, it is also referred to as the Icarus complex. People with this
problem strive too high, like Icarus, and their aspirations are crushed by failure.

The Castration or Genital Stage.

Murray disagreed with Freud's assertion that the primary source of anxiety in mature males is
the fear of castration. He saw the castration complex as a boy's fear of having his penis
severed in a more limited and literal sense. According to Murray, such a dread originates
from early childhood masturbation and any associated parental discipline.

SUBUNIT: ASSESSMENT IN MURRAY’S THEORY

Unlike Freud and the other neo psychoanalytic theorists, Murray employs different methods
for evaluating personality. Murray did not use common psychoanalytic methods like free
association and dream analysis because he was not treating emotionally troubled people.

Murray employed a range of methods to gather information from 51 male undergraduate

students at Harvard University for his thorough analysis of the typical personality. Projective
tests, objective tests, and questionnaires on topics like sexual development, sensory-motor
learning, moral standards, goals, social interactions, mechanical prowess, and childhood
memories were administered to the research participants in addition to interviews and

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projective and objective testing. Murray's team of 28 investigators needed 6 months to finish

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this evaluation program since it was so thorough. The section on study into Murray's idea
includes a discussion of these facts.

THE OSS ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

Murray oversaw an evaluation programme for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a
precursor to the CIA, from 1941 to 1945, during World War II. His objective was to pick
individuals to act as spies and saboteurs, working behind enemy lines in dangerous
circumstances. The Rorschach and TAT projective tests, as well as questionnaires covering a
range of topics, were administered to potential candidates for OSS posts after they had been
interviewed. Candidates also took part in situational exams, which involved challenging
scenarios that mimicked experiences they could have at work. Their actions during these
examinations were extensively scrutinised.

The candidate has to construct a bridge across a stream in a set amount of time for one such
test. Although there were no plans given, the person was given a team of workers to help him.
On this basis, a reasonable evaluation of the candidate's creativity, adaptability, and
leadership abilities might be made. The aides included a few stooges, those tasked with doing
everything in their power to stop the bridge from being built, to observe the candidate's
response to displeasure. When faced with the lack of collaboration and growing irritation at
being unable to finish the assignment, several candidates were outraged, and some were even
moved to tears.

This innovative effort to pick employees using extensive personality assessments has
developed into the successful assessment-centre strategy now used extensively in industry to
choose promising leaders and executives. The OSS programme is a noteworthy example of
the use of assessment tools that were initially only meant for study.

THE THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST

The Thematic Apperception Test is the evaluation method Murray is most frequently
identified with. The TAT comprises of a collection of confusing images showing simple
scenes. The participant taking the exam is instructed to create a story that describes the
individuals and items in the image, as well as the causes of the incident and the emotions of
the characters.

Murray adapted Freud's projection defensive mechanism to create the TAT, a projective
technique. When someone puts their unsettling impulses onto another person, it is known as

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projection. In the TAT, the subject projects these emotions onto the depicted people, telling
the

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researcher or therapist about his or her troublesome ideas in the process. The TAT is
therefore a tool for evaluating idiopathic sentiments, thoughts, and worries.

There are 30 cards that contain either man, woman, girl or boy. The order of presentation is:

 Man
 Woman
 Boy
 Girl

The pictures are in black and white. The basic procedure includes asking the subject to wound
or form story around the card shown to them.

Interpretation

 Determining the hero with whom the respondent has identified with.
 Content is analysed using Murray’s Theory of Needs and Presses.
 The subject projects their own characteristics on to the hero of the story.
 If the subject ignores a part of the picture on purpose, then it shows their denial to
confront those particular feelings.

There is also an Indian version of Thematic Apperception Test that has been developed. It was
given by Uma Chaudhary and it has 14 cards.

Criticisms

The TAT is frequently criticised for not being standardised, which refers to the absence of
official administration guidelines and a scoring system. Clinicians frequently conduct the
exam in a variety of ways. Furthermore, few professionals adopt Murray's complicated
grading system; instead, they rely on their own personal interpretation and clinical
judgement.

Even if physicians utilise the same scoring system, they might employ various cards or a
different number of cards, for instance. As a result, it is nearly impossible to compare data
and extremely difficult to determine dependability and validity.

SITUATION TEST

Murray is believed to have originated the phrase "situation test." The British military
invented this method of evaluation, which is based on real-world tasks and activities. Murray
served as a consultant for the British government starting in 1938 when the Officer Selection
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Board was

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being established. Because of his prior work at the Harvard Psychological Clinic, Murray was
able to apply his theories to the creation of the screening procedures employed by the Office
of Strategic Services (OSS), the Central Intelligence Agency's predecessor during World War
II. The evaluations were built on the study of particular criteria (such "leadership") across a
variety of activities by a number of raters. To arrive at an overall evaluation, the results were
combined. Later, AT&T used the guiding principles to create the Assessment Centre
technique, which is now extensively used to evaluate management potential in both
commercial and public sector organisations.

SUBUNIT: REFLECTIONS AND APPLICATIONS

REFLECTION ON MURRAY’S THEORY

Murray has had a significant and long-lasting impact on the field of personality research. His
list of wants, which continues to be useful for research, clinical diagnosis, and personnel
selection, as well as his methods for determining personality, are particularly significant.
Overall, these developments and his personal influence on at least two generations of Harvard
personology scholars have had a greater long-term impact than the specifics of his theory.

Murray's theory has its own criticisms. The fact that only a portion of his opinion has been
published makes it difficult to evaluate. His creativity and breadth of ideas were not widely
known. Murray's influence was most noticeable to those who worked with him and had
access to his broad hypotheses, which he delivered in what seemed like ordinary
conversation. Some of these concepts have been pursued by students and colleagues, but
others are no longer in existence. Only a small percentage of Murray's theory has been
experimentally tested, especially when it comes to the accomplishment and affiliation needs
as well as the assessment procedures.

Murray's research method in the Harvard undergraduate study has also been called into
question. The Diagnostic Council was admirably democratic, but it was far from scientific;
reaching a scientific conclusion by majority vote is not the most objective method.
Furthermore, some concepts, such as proceedings and serials, are overly broad. What
constitutes a significant behavioural pattern? What happens to those who are deemed
insignificant? These questions have not been satisfactorily addressed.

There is a lot of overlap between Murray's categories of demands, which may make them too
complicated. It is unclear how the needs relate to other elements of personality as well as how

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they change through time in a person. But the development of psychological testing has been
significantly influenced by the list of demands. Additionally, Murray's emphasis on
motivation and the idea of need have influenced how people study personalities today.

APPLICATIONS OF MURRAY’S THEORY

1. Personality evaluation
The development of personality testing, which includes both objective and subjective
assessments, has been influenced by Murray's theory of needs.
A personality test is a questionnaire or other standardised tool used to elicit
information about a person's personality or psychological make-up. Murray's
hierarchy of needs had a direct impact on the creation of several personality tests,
such as the Jackson Personality Inventory and the Personality Research Form.
2. Murray’s and Morgan’s Thematic Apperception Test is widely used in personality
research and in Clinical set ups to identify the area causing problems in a client.
3. Murray’s invented the situation tests which are widely used during placement by
companies, colleges and organization to test the capabilities of the applicants.
4. Murray’s himself has used his concepts and theories and has analysed the personality
of “Adolf Hitler” and it was commissioned by OSS.
5. The TAT which was created by Murray and Morgan and is based on the projection
theory of Freud. On Murray's proposed needs for achievement and affiliation, a lot of
study has been done. People who score highly on the accomplishment need tend to
come from middle-class backgrounds, have higher memory retention for incomplete
tasks, participate more actively in community and collegiate activities, and are less
susceptible to peer pressure. High need achievers are more likely to enrol in and
succeed in education, accept high-status employment with a lot of personal
responsibility, and expect success. They frequently have business or managerial
success. Setting realistically high-performance standards, avoiding overprotection or
indulgence, avoiding interfering with the child's efforts to succeed, and expressing joy
over the child's accomplishments are all parenting strategies that are likely to result in
children having a high need for achievement. Parental authoritarianism has the
tendency to reduce a child's drive for success. The need for achievement can be
influenced by gender and cultural factors. The accomplishment need can be met
through performance goals as well as mastery goals. In conclusion, Murray's
importance can be summed up by his list of demands and his methods for evaluating

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personality.

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In summary the major highlight of Murray’s theories lies in his list of needs and his techniques
are methods that he proposed to assess the personality of an individual.

REFERENCES

 Theories of personality Ninth Edition by Duane Schultz and Sydney Ellen Schultz.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray%27s_system_of_needs#Applications.
 https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Henry_Murray.
 https://www.saybrook.edu/unbound/henry-murrays-personology/.

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