Name: Kiendy Iza R. Lapaz
Class Schedule: MW 4:30-6:00 pm
Theories of Personality 1
RA Personology
Answer the following:
1. Discuss the principles of personology
Personology was the term used by Henry Murray to discuss his idea of human
personality. In his study, he formulated five principles of personology, first human
personality is rooted in the brain. For him, the center of personality is our brain, it is where
all aspects of our personality such as our feelings, memories and emotions originated from.
Second, similar to Freud, Murray believed that personality involves the idea of tension
reduction. He believed that there is no tension-free personality because tension is always
present in human personality, therefore, people’s goal of tension reduction is not to attain
tension-free well-being but the aim of satisfaction. Third, personality development is a
continuous process which is influenced by past events. Forth, personality is not fixed thus it
undergoes constant change. Lastly, personology holds the idea of personal uniqueness.
Murray believed everyone is unique and people differ from each other.
2. Discuss the following Divisions of Personality. Also compare and contrast Murray’s
concepts on the id, ego, superego with that of Freud’s.
In Murray’s theory, similar to Freud’s, he divided personality into three divisions.
However, Murray interprets each division different from how Freud conceptualize his idea of
the Provinces of the Mind.
2.1.Id – For Murray, images from the id are innate impulses that are in relation to what the
society consider acceptable or not. His interpretation of the id is related to Jung’s
concept of shadow archetype wherein he relates the environment or society to images
produced by the id which has desirable and undesirable aspects, images such as love,
imitation and empathy. Similar to Freud, Murray believed in the selfish instinct of the id
but unlike Freud, he included needs and desirable images in his interpretation of the id.
2.2.Superego – Murray put emphasis on the influence of environment to personality. He
defined superego as a product or is influenced by childhood and societal factors. It is the
evaluation and judgment of childhood experiences, values and norms of a certain
culture. His definition of superego is somehow similar to Freud’s moral principle.
However, Freud focuses on his concept of Oedipus complex and did not recognize the
influence of environment and childhood experiences. Furthermore, Murray put more
emphasis on ego-ideal that gives us the goal towards our ambition and idealized self.
Murray contradict Freud’s claim that there is a conflict between the superego and the id,
for him there is an absence of conflict between the two provinces for he believed that
superego prevents undesirable impulses and functions to satisfy desirable needs. Also,
he believed in the continuous development of superego and disregard Freud’s claim of
crystallization at age 5.
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2.3.Ego– Murray strongly believed that ego is the determinant and governor of behavior.
According to him, the ego governs direction of behaviors. It also organizes behavior that
is produced by the id by delaying undesirable impulses and satisfying desirable id
impulses. Murray believed that ego consciously organizes behavior and contradicts
Freud’s view of ego as slave of the id and other principle. Also, Murray believed that the
ego judges and harmonizes the demands of id and superego, but it may also favor id
over the superego or superego over the id. In Murray’s system, similar to Freud’s,
person with strong ego can modulate conflicting demands of the id and superego, and
when weak ego arises conflicts happen. Unlike Freud, Murray believed that we are
capable to solve and avoid this conflict.
3. Discuss the mechanisms of Needs
One thing that makes Murray’s theory unique and different from Freud’s is his
