Macdougall, William

Born June 22, 1871, in Lancashire; died Nov. 28, 1938, in Durham, N.C. Anglo-American psychologist.

MacDougall was originally a student of biology and medicine, but, influenced by William James’ Principles of Psychology, he turned to the study of psychology (first at Cambridge and then at Gottingen with G. Muller). He lectured at University College (London) and at Oxford. From 1920 to 1927 he was a professor at Harvard, and from 1927 to 1938, at Duke University.

MacDougall believed the basis of mental life to be tendency, or “horme” (Greek, “urge”, or “impulse”). His approach is often called hormic psychology. According to MacDougall, horme is a striving toward a biologically meaningful goal determined by special predispositions—either innate instincts and tendencies or acquired feelings. As a human being develops, his feelings acquire a hierarchical structure. At first, several basic feelings are prominent. Once the character is formed, however, a single central (“egotistic”) feeling emerges.

MacDougall’s concept of personality includes the character (the integrated aggregate of congenital and acquired volitional predispositions) and the intellect (the aggregate of the individual’s cognitive capabilities, both innate and acquired). Reflections on the clinical phenomenon of “multiple personality” led MacDougall to elaborate a metapsychological concept of personality based on Leibniz’ monadism. According to this concept, every personality is a system of “potentially thinking and striving monads” (“I”), which merge into a “higher” monad (“self) that directs the entire psychophysical life of the person through the monadal hierarchy.