Murray, Henry A.

Murray, Henry A., 1893–1988, American psychologist, b. New York City. Murray was trained in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, chemistry, and biology. He taught at Harvard (1927–62), and helped found the Boston Psychoanalytic Society. His theory of personality drew from both Freudian and Jungian psychoanalysis, to form a complex system of basic motivational forces. Murray developed the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), a projective test widely used by psychologists for assessing personality (see psychological tests).

Bibliography

See E. S. Shneidman, ed., Selections from the Personology of Henry A. Murray (1981).

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Murray, Henry A. (Alexander) (1893–1988) psychologist; born in New York City. He studied medicine at Columbia University and became interested in psychology upon meeting Carl Jung during the 1920s. He taught psychology at Harvard (1927–62) and directed its Psychological Clinic, where he conducted the research that culminated in the book Explorations in Personality (1938). He also published (with Christiana Morgan) the projective Thematic Apperception Test, which measures psychogenic needs.