Question

Question about Henry A. Murray. Alter some of his biographical details [race, ethnicity, gender, ability status, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, geographic location, etc.]. Provide a short description of his new identity, and then unpack how these changes would have influenced his ability to contribute to/participate in psychology, his inclusion in the historical record, the content/substance of his contribution, and the responses to his work. Be attentive to the historical and political context in which he lived when thinking through these questions.

Answer 1

Murray was a founder of personality psychology who emphasized “personology” or the study of lives in his most influential book, Explorations in Personality (1938). He was also a pioneer in personality assessment, and co-inventor of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). As director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic beginning in 1928, and professor in Harvard’s Psychology and then Social Relations department until 1962, Murray trained, inspired, and provoked many who would shape personality psychology in the decades to come.Murray was self-taught as a psychologist, he felt proud to be in the humanistic tradition of a philosopher like William James. He remains notable for having inspired generations of graduate students. His TAT test was a means of drawing forth from people by means of words and stories important aspects of personality that an individual could or would not volunteer. The TAT test was designed to be both a diagnostic tool and a research tool. His most famous single book, which was the outcome of collaborating with others at his Psychological Clinic, was Explorations in Personality.During World War II, he left Harvard and worked as lieutenant colonel for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). James Miller, in charge of the selection of secret agents at the OSS during World War ll, said the situation test was used by British War Officer Selection Board and OSS to assess potential agents.In 1943 Murray helped complete Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler, commissioned by OSS boss MGen. William "Wild Bill" Donovan. The report was done in collaboration with psychoanalyst Walter C. Langer, Dr. Ernst Kris, New School for Social Research, and Dr. Bertram D. Lewin, New York Psychoanalytic Institute. The report used many sources to profile Hitler, including informants such as Ernst Hanfstaengl, Hermann Rauschning, Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Gregor Strasser, Friedelinde Wagner, and Kurt Ludecke. The groundbreaking study was the pioneer of offender profiling and political psychology. In addition to predicting that Hitler would choose suicide if defeat for Germany was near, Murray's collaborative report stated that Hitler was impotent as far as heterosexual relations were concerned and that there was a possibility that Hitler had participated in a homosexual relationship. The report stated: "The belief that Hitler is homosexual has probably developed (a) from the fact that he does show so many feminine characteristics, and (b) from the fact that there were so many homosexuals in the Party during the early days and many continue to occupy important positions. It is probably true that Hitler calls Albert Forster "Bubi", which is a common nickname employed by homosexuals in addressing their partners."