Introduction Henry Murray (born May 13, 1893), or is better known as Henry Alexander Murray in full was the founding father of personality psychology who focused on personology. Murray, unlike Gordon Alport, obtained minimal proper training in the field of psychology (Engler, 2014). He majored in history and acquired a Bachelors (B.A.) degree from Harvard. Following that, Murray also obtained his Masters (M.A.) in biology and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in biochemistry from both Columbia and Cambridge University respectively (Sons, 2008). Murray’s curiosity in psychology ignited when he started reading the works of Carl Jung (Engler, 2014). He found his calling and thereafter devoted himself exclusively in the deepest niche of personality. He was awarded numerous times for his major contributions in psychology. Murray died in 1988, at the age of 95.
Description of Theory …show more content…
Murray pointed out that personology highlights the characteristics and the underlying properties that are conveyed in a person’s behavior (Engler, 2014). In other words, he believed that it’s impossible to fully comprehend an aspect of one behavior without taking into consideration a fully functioning individual as personology is an analysis of the person himself. In fact, certain aspects of Murray’s theory was heavily influenced by Freud’s hypothesis. However, Murray made sure that he re-evaluate and at the same time enhanced Freud’s (ego, id, and superego) idea (Engler, 2014). For Murray, ego is the organized, reasoning and more self- conscious part of personality whereas id is the basic negative and positive impulse of needs (Sons, 2008). As for superego, it is an internalized portrayal of the social environment (Engler,