#1
|
Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
In 1943, the Allied forces wanted to understand Hitler's psychological makeup in order to predict, to the extent possible, his behavior as the Allies continued their prosecution of the war and to anticipate his response to Germany's defeat. The Allies were also seeking to understand the German national psyche to gain an understanding of how to convert them into a "peace-loving nation." This report was written for the OSS by Dr. Henry A. Murray, pre-war Director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic. Dr. Murray obviously was forced by circumstances to psychoanalyze his subject from a distance. He gathered information from a variety of second-hand sources, such as Hitler's genealogy; school and military records; public reports of events in print and on film; OSS information; Hitler's own writings; Hitler biographies; and "Hitler the Man - Notes for a Case History," an article written by W.H.D. Vernon under Dr. Murray's supervision. From these resources and his "needs theory" of personality, Dr. Murray created a psychological profile that correctly predicted the Nazi leader's suicide in the face of Germany's defeat. With the benefit of hindsight and more than 60 years of scientific advances, one can appreciate this analysis of Hitler's personality and also catch a glimpse into an early application of personality psychology by one of the discipline's founders. Dr. Murray's Explorations in Personality (NY: Oxford Press, 1938) established personality psychology as a behavioral science. Murray explored a theory of personality in which the interplay of 20 psychogenic needs of varying strength produced distinct personality types. Murray pegged Hitler's personality as "counteractive narcism," a type that is stimulated by real or imagined insult or injury. According to Dr. Murray, the characteristics<wbr> of this personality type include: holding grudges, low tolerance for criticism, excessive demands for attention, inability to express gratitude, a tendency to belittle, bully, and blame others, desire for revenge, persistence in the face of defeat, extreme self-will, self-trust, inability to take a joke, and compulsive criminality. Dr. Murray concluded that Hitler had these characteristics<wbr> (and others) to an extreme degree and lacked the offsetting qualities that round out a balanced personality. The language of needs theory may seem unfamiliar to today's readers since personality theory moved on to new terminology and theories. However, Dr. Murray's writing style and descriptive language make this report as intelligible to the lay reader of today as to the World War II era psychologist. Cornell Law Library is pleased to share this report, part of our Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, in its original format. |
The Following 12 Users Say Thank You to PS I Hate You For This Useful Post: | ||
blixkyzi, chris, frozia, imi, iridopelma, jitler, mankindsdecadence, Nakatedonfelabrinak, neilwatt, Relet, sifnoothernames, SpaniardPrince |
The Following Users Say Fuck Off To This Post By PS I Hate You: | ||
DSR999 |
#2
|
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
nice post ![]() |
#3
| ||||||||
My Rank: SERGEANT Poster Rank:944 Join Date: Jun 2012 Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Quoted: 127 Post(s)
| ||||||||
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
Thank You. Very good post. I'm on page 140 so far. ![]() |
The Following User Says Thank You to lkduke3 For This Useful Post: | ||
LuckiiDevil21 |
#4
|
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
Excellent post
|
#5
| ||||||||
So Fucking Banned Poster Rank:588 male Join Date: Feb 2010 Mentioned: 8 Post(s) Quoted: 670 Post(s)
| ||||||||
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
Hitler own subordinates in a calm and polite man known in private life Of course, who had read Mein Kampf is aware that Hitler was a pretty patriotic and aggressive guy who is very much hated Jews (not really tell you why) |
The Following User Says Thank You to imi For This Useful Post: | ||
LuckiiDevil21 |
#6
| ||||||||
So Fucking Banned Poster Rank:427 Join Date: Jun 2009 Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Quoted: 210 Post(s)
| ||||||||
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
![]() |
#7
| ||||||||
So Fucking Banned Poster Rank:588 male Join Date: Feb 2010 Mentioned: 8 Post(s) Quoted: 670 Post(s)
| ||||||||
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
compulsive criminality? Hitler was militaristic which is the complete opposite criminalistics The criminals are - usually low intelligence, agressive persons - most of them alcohol and drug addicts - high percentage homosexuals - and a high percentage of thoughts liberal without intrested any racial ideas - Criminals are interested in getting easy money without any law or order, and living free and easy life Hitler was - agressive but only in political or military goals - Hitler was intelligent - rarely consumed alcohol - not use drugs - he wasn't homosexual (in fact he hated homosexuals who closed concentration camp) - and he was absolutely not liberal, he was strict freak with strong nationalist and white supermacist with gigantic ideas Otherwise, the credibility is in question of the foreign analysis, because Hitler's internal staff have known him truly At that time there was no wiretapping or spycams which proves Hitler lived what kind privacy (in his subordinates in a calm and polite man known in private life) The external personnel may recognize only a part of his being in the speeches and from the book of Mein Kampf |
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to imi For This Useful Post: | ||
DSR999, Greenfind235, MasacruAlex |
The Following 2 Users Said Fuck Off to imi For This Post: | ||
Peccatoris,
snguyen93 |
#8
| ||||||||
My Rank: PRIVATE Poster Rank:9807 Join Date: May 2022 Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Quoted: 3 Post(s)
| ||||||||
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
B.S. lies.
|
The Following User Says Thank You to DSR999 For This Useful Post: | ||
MasacruAlex |
#9
|
Re: Analysis of the Personality of Adolph Hitler
Probably had some sort of trauma in childhood or adolescence that laid the groundwork for his narcissism. Combined with his WW1 experience and postwar Germany, it's not hard to see how he came to power. That and maybe the art school should have looked past him preferring landscapes over portraits, WW2 could have been avoided ![]() |