American psychologist psychologist Henry Murray (1893-1988) developed a theory of personality that was organied in terms of motives! presses! and needs" Murray descri#ed a needs as a $potentiality or readiness to respond in a certain way under certain given circumstances$ (1938)"
%heories of personality #ased #ased upon needs needs and motives suggest that that our personalities are a re&ection of #ehaviors controlled #y needs"
'ontinue eading elow
*hile some needs are temporary and changing! other needs are more deeply seated in our nature" According to Murray! these psychogenic needs function mostly on the unconscious level! #ut play a ma+or role in our personality"
Murray,s %ypes of eeds
Murray identi.ed needs as one of two types/
0rimary eeds 0rimary needs are #asic needs that are #ased upon #iological demands! such as the need for oygen! food! and water" 2econdary eeds 2econdary needs are generally psychological! such as the need for nurturing! independence! independenc e! and achievement" *hile these needs might not #e fundamental for #asic survival! they are essential for psychological well-#eing" 2ee Also/ %he 1 eeds of eurotic 0eople
4ist of 0sychogenic eeds
%he following following is a partial partial list of 56 needs needs identi.ed #y Murray and and his colleagues" colleagues" According to Murray! all people have these needs! #ut each individual tends to have a certain level of each need"
1" Am#ition eeds
Achievement/ 2uccess! accomplishment! and overcoming o#stacles" 7hi#ition/ 2hocing or thrilling other people" ecognition/ isplaying achievements and gaining social status" 5" Materialistic eeds
Ac:uisition/ ;#taining things" 'onstruction/ 'reating things" ;rder/ Maing things neat and organied" 'ontinue eading elow
etention/ <eeping things" 3" 0ower eeds
A#asement/ 'onfessing and apologiin apologiing" g" Autonomy/ =ndependence and resistance" Aggression/ Attacing or ridiculing others" lame Avoidance/ >ollowing the rules and avoiding #lame" eference/ eferenc e/ ;#eying and cooperating with others" ominance/ 'ontrolling others" 6" A?ection eeds
A@liation/ 2pending time with other people" urturance/ %aing care of another person" 0lay/ Having fun with others" e+ection/ e+ecting other people" 2uccorance/ eing helped or protected #y others" " =nformation eeds
'ogniance/ 2eeing nowledge and asing :uestions" 7position/ 7ducation others" =n&uences on 0sychogenic eeds
7ach need is important in and of itself! #ut Murray also #elieved that needs can #e interrelated! can support other needs! and can con&ict with other needs" >or eample! the need for dominance may con&ict with the need for a@liation when overly controlling #ehavior drives away friends! family! and romantic partners" Murray also #elieved that environmental factors play a role in how these psychogenic needs are displayed in #ehavior" Murray called these environmental forces $presses"$
esearch on 0sychogenic eeds
;ther psychologists have su#+ected Murray,s psychogenic needs to considera#le research" >or eample! research on the need for achievement has revealed that people with a high need for achievement tend to select more challengin challenging g tass" 2tudies on the need for a@liation have found that people who rate high on a@liation needs tend to have larger social groups! spend more time in social interaction! and more liely to su?er loneliness when faced with little social contact"