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Henry Murray

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Doctor

The Resume

    (May 13, 1893-June 23, 1988)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Psychologist
    Director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic (1930-62)
    Developed a theory of personality based on 'need' and 'press'
    Co-developer of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; 1935)
    Wrote 'Explorations in Personality' (1938), 'Analysis of the Personality of Adolf Hitler' (1943), and 'Personality in Nature, Society, and Culture' (1953)
    Received the Gold Medal for lifetime achievement from the American Psychological Foundation

Why he might be annoying:

    He conducted a long-term extramarital affair with Christiana Morgan, the illustrator of the TAT.
    To measure responses to extreme stress, he conducted experiments in which 22 Harvard undergraduates were subjected to 'vehement, sweeping, and personally abusive' attacks. The subjects were later required to repeatedly watch footage of their reactions to the verbal abuse.
    One of his subjects was Ted Kaczynski; the book 'Harvard and the Unabomber' argues that Kaczynski's experiences under Murray influence his later crimes.
    He supervised Timothy Leary's experiments with psychedelic drugs at Harvard.
    There has been speculation that he was involved with the CIA's MK-Ultra mind-control program.

Why he might not be annoying:

    During World War II, he worked with the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA) in assessing potential intelligence agents.
    He was considered a leading expert on Herman Melville, and was inspired to create the TAT by a chapter of 'Moby Dick' in which several characters make wildly different interpretations of the image on a doubloon.
    He noted that the TAT was 'The second-best seller that Harvard ever published, second only to the 'Harvard Handbook of Music.''
    In fairness, the other 21 students he used as test subjects did not become anti-technology, mail-bombing loners.

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying