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Henry Murray’s needs and presses (environmental pressures)

Murray discussed two categories of needs:

  • Primary (viscerogenic) needs:
    • intake: air, water, food, sentience
    • output: sex, lactation, expiration (CO2), urintation, defecation
    • retraction: noxavoidance, heatavoidance, coldavoidance, harmavoidance
  • Secondary (psychogenic) needs 17 secondary needs in eight need domains
    • Ambition: need for Superiority, Achievement, Recogntion, Exhibition
    • Materialism: need for Acquisition, Consevance, Order, Retention, Construction
    • Status need for: Inviolancy, Infavoidance, Defendance, Counteraction, Seclusion
    • Power: need for Dominance, Deference, Autonomy, Contrariance, Infavoidance
    • Sadomasochism: need for Abasement, Aggression
    • Social-Conformance: need for Blame avoidance
    • Affection: need for Affiliation, Rejection
    • Information: need for Cognizance, Exposition

Murray’s 20 manifest needs (1938) (from Davis & Panksepp, 2018, pp. 74-75)

  • n Dominance To control one’s human environment. To influence or direct the behavior and opinions of others
  • n Deference To admire and support a superior other. to yield eagerly to the influence of an allied other
  • n Autonomy To get free, shoake off restraint, break out of confinement. To resist coercion and restriction. To be independnet and free to act according to impulse
  • n Aggression to overcome opposition forcefully. To fight. To oppose forcefuly or punish an other
  • n Abasement To submit passively to external force. To accept injury, criticism, punishment
  • n Achievement To accomplish something difficult, and attain a high standard. To rival and surpass others
  • n Sex To form and further an erotic relationship
  • n Sentience To seek and enjoy sensuous impressions
  • n Exhibition To make an impression. To be seen and heard
  • n Play To act for “fun”, without further purpose. To laught and make good-natured humor, even if slightly aggressive
  • n Affiliation To enjoyable cooperate or reciprocate with an allied other. To remain loyal to a friend
  • n Rejection To separate onself from an inferior other. To snub or jilt an other
  • n Succorance The tendency to cry, plead, or ask for nourishment, love, protection, or aid. To have always a suporter
  • n Nurturance To give sympathy and gratify the needs of an infant or any other that is weak
  • n Infavoidance To avlid humiliation. To refrain from action because of the fear of failure
  • n Defendance To defend the self against assault, criticism, and blame
  • n Counteraction to master or make up for failure by restriving. To overcome weakness
  • n Harmavoidance To avoid pain, phusical injury, and death. To escape from danger or take precautions
  • n Order To put things in order. To achieve cleanliness, neatness, and precision
  • n Understanding The tendency to ask or answer questions, analyze events, and be interest in theory
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