Based on the information available about Howard Hughes in his younger years, before he became reclusive, here is an analysis of his personality and temperament:
MMPI
Based on public knowledge of Howard Hughes in his younger years, here are some scales of the MMPI where he might score high and low:
High Scores
Hypomania (Ma): Hughes was known for his high energy, enthusiasm, and relentless drive, especially in his pursuits in aviation and filmmaking.
Dominance (Do): As a highly ambitious and assertive individual, Hughes exhibited strong leadership qualities and a desire to control situations.
Psychoticism (Pt): His eccentric behaviors, such as his obsession with cleanliness and his reclusive tendencies, might reflect higher levels of psychoticism.
Intellectualization (Sc): Hughes was highly intellectual and rational, often engaging in complex problem-solving and innovative thinking.
Low Scores
Social Introversion (Si): Despite his public achievements, Hughes was known to be quite private and reclusive, especially later in life.
Hysteria (Hy): Hughes was not known for being overly dramatic or emotional; he was more focused and composed, channeling his energy into his work.
Psychasthenia (Pt): Hughes' ability to remain calm and collected under pressure suggests lower levels of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
Lethargy (Le): Given his active lifestyle and involvement in numerous pursuits, Hughes likely scored low on lethargy.
In addition:
Jungian archetypes: The Creator, The Hero
Tarot card insights: To symbolize Howard Hughes through Tarot cards, we can select cards that reflect different aspects of his life and personality. Here's a selection of cards that might represent him:
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The Emperor - This card represents authority, structure, and control, which aligns with Hughes' role as a powerful businessman and his control over his vast empire.
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The Hermit - Reflecting Hughes' later years of seclusion and introspection, this card symbolizes solitude and the search for inner wisdom.
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The Chariot - This card signifies determination, willpower, and success in overcoming obstacles, which can be seen in Hughes' achievements in aviation and his record-breaking flights.
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The Fool - Representing a free spirit and a willingness to take risks, this card can symbolize Hughes' adventurous nature and his willingness to embark on new ventures, such as his film projects and aviation endeavors.
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The Tower - This card can represent sudden change and upheaval, which might reflect the dramatic shifts in Hughes' life, including his mental health struggles and the decline of his public image.
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King of Wands - As a card of leadership, vision, and entrepreneurship, this card embodies Hughes' role as a pioneering businessman and innovator.
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Knight of Swords - Symbolizing ambition, action, and sometimes recklessness, this card can represent Hughes' drive to push boundaries, particularly in aviation.
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Eight of Pentacles - This card signifies dedication to work and craftsmanship, reflecting Hughes' meticulous attention to detail in his film productions and aircraft designs.
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Five of Cups - Representing loss and disappointment, this card can symbolize the personal losses and emotional struggles Hughes faced, particularly in his later years.
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Ace of Wands - As a card of new beginnings and creative energy, this can represent the start of Hughes' various ventures and his innovative spirit.
These cards together paint a picture of Howard Hughes as a complex individual with a blend of ambition, innovation, leadership, and personal challenges.
Myers-Briggs 4 letter type: INTJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging)
Myers-Briggs 2 letter type: NT (iNtuitive Thinking)
Enneagram type: Type 5 (The Investigator) with a strong wing 4 (The Individualist)
New Personality Self-Portrait styles: Self-confident, Idiosyncratic, Adventurous, Solitary
Temperament type: Primarily Melancholic with some Choleric traits
Possible personality disorders: Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder tendencies
Hierarchy of basic desires:
Achievement
Power
Independence
Innovation
Hierarchy of basic values:
Excellence
Efficiency
Innovation
Control
Hierarchy of basic ideals:
Perfection
Progress
Self-reliance
Technological advancement
Character weaknesses or flaws:
Perfectionism
Obsessive tendencies
Difficulty delegating
Social awkwardness
Possible neurotic defense mechanisms:
Sublimation (channeling impulses into productive endeavors)
Rationalization (justifying behaviors or decisions)
Isolation (separating emotions from thoughts)
Possible trance states:
Flow state during intense work or problem-solving
Hyperfocus on projects or ideas
Big Five personality dimensions:
High Openness to Experience
High Conscientiousness
Low Extraversion
Low Agreeableness
High Neuroticism
Main neuro-linguistic meta-programs:
Proactive
Options
Internal reference
Specific
Towards motivation
Independent
Sources
1 The Sourcebook of Magic by L. Michael Hall Ph.D. and Barbara Belnap M.S.W.
2 Personality Plus by Florence Littauer
3 Personality Plus Revised and Expanded Edition by Florence Littauer
4 Personality Puzzle by Florence Littauer and Marita Littauer
5 Trances People Live by Stephen Wolinsky, Ph.D.
6 New Personality Self-Portrait by John M. Oldham, M.D. and Lois B. Morris
In addition:
Before he became reclusive, Howard Hughes was a dynamic and highly influential figure in American culture, known for his achievements in aviation, film, and business innovation. In his younger years, particularly from the 1920s to the 1940s, Hughes’s behavior exemplified drive, charisma, and a relentless pursuit of mastery — all traits that could be examined through the lens of Transactional Analysis (TA).
Transactional Analysis (TA)—developed by Eric Berne—is a psychological theory that explores human behavior and communication through the interplay of three ego states: Parent, Adult, and Child [1][2]. It includes several key areas of analysis:
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Structural Analysis – This focuses on understanding which ego state a person operates from at any given time (Parent, Adult, or Child). A young Hughes often operated strongly from his Adult state when managing technical or engineering challenges, yet his Free Child was active in his adventurous risk-taking and passion for aviation [3].
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Transactional (or Game) Analysis – This aspect examines the exchanges, or “transactions,” between people. Early Hughes mastered “games” of social and business interaction — using charm, persuasion, and strategy to achieve his aims, such as securing funding or directing films [4].
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Script Analysis – This explores the unconscious “life script” shaped by early childhood experiences. Hughes’s script seemed to be driven by perfectionism and control — possibly determined in childhood by early family expectations and independence instilled after the death of his parents [6].
Behavior patterns in TA are understood to be determined early in life, typically by age six to seven, as a result of parental messages and early emotional experiences. These shape how individuals later respond to stress, relationships, and authority [5].
Given this understanding of Hughes’s dynamic personality through Transactional Analysis — where his dominance of the Adult and Child ego states contributed to his success but also to later conflict
Sources
Integrating Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis (TA) model of the Parent, Adult, and Child ego states with Sigmund Freud’s structural theory of the Superego, Ego, and Id provides a deeper psychoanalytic framework for understanding Howard Hughes’s behavior patterns throughout his life [1][2][6].
1. Parent ↔ Superego
The Parent in TA parallels the Superego in Freudian terms. Both represent internalized authority, rules, and values absorbed from early caregivers. For Hughes, the strong internal “Parent/Superego” manifested as his perfectionism, moral rigidity, and obsessive self-discipline — qualities instilled through the high expectations of his wealthy, rule-driven family [3]. His constant pursuit of technical precision and cleanliness echoed the dominance of this moral and controlling voice. Over time, this heightened internal censor may have intensified his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, pushing him toward isolation and emotional detachment [4].
2. Adult ↔ Ego
Hughes’s Adult ego state strongly aligns with Freud’s Ego — the rational mediator between instinctual drives (Id/Child) and moral constraints (Superego/Parent). In his prime, Hughes’s “Adult/Ego” was exceptionally active: he used logic, experimentation, and data to design aircraft, manage studios, and make business decisions. His achievements in aviation and engineering show how his Adult/Ego functioned at high efficiency, calculating risks and balancing his bold inner urges with external realities [2][5].
However, as his compulsive fears and anxieties grew, this rational mediator weakened, unable to balance the tension between his daring Child/Id and punishing Parent/Superego — leading to his later psychological decline.
3. Child ↔ Id
In TA, the Child ego state embodies emotions, spontaneity, creativity, and desire for pleasure — attributes that closely mirror Freud’s Id. In Hughes’s youth, his “Free Child/Id” drove his exploratory and daring nature: his thrilling passion for flying, filmmaking innovations, and risk-taking behavior reflected a powerful drive for excitement and freedom [1][6]. His Adapted Child, shaped by societal and parental messages, can also be seen as his attempt to conform to inherited expectations while secretly resisting them through rebellious risk-taking.
Integrated View of Hughes’s Psyche
When these systems are viewed together, a dynamic balance — and later imbalance — becomes visible in Hughes’s psychological structure.
- In his younger years, the Adult/Ego effectively balanced his ambitious Child/Id and disciplined Parent/Superego, resulting in creative brilliance and innovation.
- As time passed, the conflict between a harsh Parent/Superego and a frustrated Child/Id overwhelmed the Adult/Ego’s mediating ability.
This imbalance may have contributed to his increasing paranoia, compulsions, and eventual withdrawal from public life [3][5].
In summary, Hughes’s early success can be attributed to a productive alignment among his Adult (Ego), Child (Id), and Parent (Superego) forces, while his later reclusion reflected a severe internal conflict—where the demanding, perfectionist Parent/Superego dominated, suppressing the spontaneity of the Child/Id and eroding the stabilizing Adult/Ego [2][6].
Sources
Finally:
Integrating Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis (TA), Sigmund Freud’s structural theory, and Ayn Rand’s philosophical triad of intrinsicism, objectivism, and subjectivism/emotionalism offers a comprehensive explanation of Howard Hughes’s personality and how it evolved from brilliance and innovation to reclusion and psychological fragmentation [1][2][6].
1. Transactional Analysis and Freud’s Structural Model
From Berne’s perspective, Hughes’s personality expressed all three ego states — Parent, Adult, and Child — while Freud’s framework reveals their deeper psychic processes — Superego, Ego, and Id [3].
| Berne (TA) | Freud | Function in Hughes’s Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Parent ↔ Superego | Moral authority, perfectionism, and internalized family expectations. Hughes’s rigid sense of control and his obsession with cleanliness and order exemplify a dominant critical Parent/Superego. | |
| Adult ↔ Ego | Rational mediator balancing impulses and constraints. His analytical problem-solving and technical innovation demonstrate a highly functional Adult/Ego during his most creative years. | |
| Child ↔ Id | Emotional energy, creativity, and pleasure-seeking. His risk-taking in aviation and film reflected a powerful, spontaneous Child/Id, seeking excitement and recognition. |
Early in life, these systems coexisted productively — his Adult/Ego effectively managed the tension between his Parent/Superego and Child/Id. Later, the overactive Parent/Superego suppressed the spontaneity of the Child/Id, leading to excessive anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and withdrawal from human connection [4][5].
2. Ayn Rand’s Ethical-Philosophical Dimension
Ayn Rand’s views provide the philosophical backdrop that explains why Hughes’s inner psychological struggle manifested in specific moral and existential ways [3][6].
- Intrinsicism represents belief in inherent values independent of human reason. If we apply this to Hughes, his perfectionism and sense of destiny — the belief that excellence was something innately commanded rather than reasoned — reflected an intrinsicist impulse rooted in his controlling Superego/Parent.
- Objectivism, Rand’s central view, emphasizes rational self-interest, reality-based reasoning, and the active engagement of the intellect. Hughes’s innovative work corresponded to this phase: his Adult/Ego embodied rational objectivity through design, data, and achievement in aviation and engineering.
- Subjectivism/Emotionalism is the mental state where emotions become the source of values and decisions. This mirrored Hughes’s later life when fear, phobia, and personal isolation overtook reason, showing the Child/Id’s unmediated emotional dominance once the Adult/Ego collapsed [1][2].
3. Synthesized Psychological-Philosophical Model of Hughes
Viewed together:
- Early Hughes was the emblem of Objectivist pragmatism: his Adult/Ego ruled, balancing an ambitious Child/Id and a disciplined Parent/Superego. He transformed rational purpose into action — designing record-breaking aircraft, directing films, and pioneering new technologies.
- Middle Period Hughes saw tension between the Parent/Superego’s intrinsicism (“perfection for its own sake”) and the Child/Id’s emotionalism (“pleasure and risk for its own sake”). His perfectionism, isolation, and inability to delegate revealed the internal conflict between these forces.
- Later Hughes devolved into subjectivism dominated by irrational fears. The overgrown Superego/Parent exerted tyrannical control, while his Adult/Ego — aligned with Rand’s objectivist reasoning — decayed. The Child/Id responded with compulsive rituals and paranoia, manifesting what Rand would term emotionalism detached from reason [4][5].
4. Comprehensive Interpretation
Thus, Hughes’s life trajectory mirrors a philosophical and psychological arc:
- Rational mastery (Objectivism/Adult-Ego balance) — Reason directs creativity.
- Loss of rational mediation (Intrinsicist-Subjectivist conflict) — Moral rigidity and emotional rebellion clash.
- Collapse into emotional subjectivism — Rational structure disintegrates under compulsive fear.
In synthesis, Howard Hughes was a man whose objectivist intellect and creative Child/Id initially aligned in remarkable harmony under a disciplined Adult/Ego, producing innovation and greatness. Over time, the intrinsicist Superego/Parent suppressed freedom, while subjectivist emotionalism overwhelmed his rational control — resulting in the tragic transformation from visionary genius to isolated recluse [1][6].
