Murray's system of needs
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In 1938 Henry Murray published Explorations in Personality, his system describing personality in terms of needs. For Murray, human nature involved a set of universal basic needs, with individual differences on these needs leading to the uniqueness of personality through varying dispositional tendencies for each need. In other words, specific needs are more important to some than to others.
Murray differentiated each need as unique, but recognised commonalities among the needs. Behaviors may meet more than one need: for instance, performing a difficult task for your fraternity may meet the needs of both achievement and affiliation.
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List of psychgenic needs
This is a (partial) list of Murray's needs.
| Domain | Need for… | Representative behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Ambition | Achievement | To accomplish difficult tasks, overcoming obstacles and becoming expert |
| Ambition | Recognition * | Describing accomplishments |
| Ambition | Exhibition | To impress others through one's actions and words, even if these are shocking. |
| Materialism | Acquisition | Obtaining things |
| Materialism | Order | To make things clean, neat and tidy |
| Materialism | Retention | Hoarding things |
| Materialism | Construction | Building something |
| Defense of status | Infavoidance | Concealing a handicap or a failing |
| Defense of status | Defendance | To defend oneself against attack or blame, hiding any failure of the self. Explain or excuse |
| Defense of status | Counteraction | To make up for failure by trying again, seeking pridefully to overcome obstacles. |
| Human power | Dominance | To control one's environment, controlling other people through command or persuasion |
| Human power | Deference | To admire a superior person, praising them and yielding to them and following their rules. |
| Human power | Autonomy | To break free from constraints, resisting coercion and dominating authority. To be irresponsible and independent |
| Human power | Contrariance | Being oppositional |
| Human power | Aggression | To forcefully overcome an opponent, controlling, taking revenge or punishing them |
| Human power | Abasement | To surrender and submit to others, accept blame and punishment. To enjoy pain and misfortune |
| Human power | Blame avoidance | Stifling blameworthy impulses |
| Human power | Harm avoidance | To escape or avoid pain, injury and death. |
| Human power | Infavoidance | To avoid being humiliated or embarrassed. |
| Affection between people | Affiliation | To be close and loyal to another person, pleasing them and winning their friendship and attention |
| Affection between people | Sex | To form relationships that lead to sexual intercourse. |
| Affection between people | Rejection | To separate oneself from a negatively viewed object or person, excluding or abandoning it. |
| Affection between people | Nurturance | To help the helpless, feeding them and keeping them from danger |
| Affection between people | Succorance | To have one's needs satisfied by someone or something. Includes being loved, nursed, helped, forgiven and consoled |
| Affection between people | Play | To have fun, laugh and relax, enjoying oneself |
| Exchange of information | Sentience | To seek out and enjoy sensual experiences. |
| Exchange of information | Cognizance | Understanding: To be curious, ask questions and find answers |
| Exchange of information | Exposition * | Delivering information to others |
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See also
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