Download Gordon Allport

Gordon Allport
1897 - 1967
Gordon Allport - bio
Born in Indiana, grew up in Cleveland
 Attended Harvard – majored in Economics
and Philosophy
 Taught English and Sociology in
Constantinople, Turkey
 Meeting with Freud was a turning point
 Ph.D. – in Psychology, 1922 – dissertation
was the first to deal with “traits”

Bio (cont).
Taught first course in Personality at
Harvard (1924)
 Also wrote about prejudice and religion
 President of APA – 1939
 APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution –
1964
 Considered the “Dean” of American
Personality study

Definition of “Trait”
“…a neuro-psychic structure having the
capacity to render many stimuli
functionally equivalent and to initiate and
guide equivalent (meaningfully consistent)
forms of adaptive and expressive
behavior.”
 i.e., a trait is a predisposition to act in the
same way in a wide range of situations

Trait Approach to Personality
Consistent reaction patterns of an
individual can be predicted from knowing
person’s personality traits
 Trait: basic limited set of adjective
dimensions which describe and scale
individuals
 18,000 adjectives (Allport)

Gordon Allport
Defined Personality as:
 “The dynamic organization within the
individual of those psychophysical
systems that determine his characteristic
behaviors and thoughts”-organization
within an individual
 Each person has unique key qualities
 Emphasized traits-Freud emphasized
instinctual drives

Functionally EquivalentAllport
A trait is an internal structure that renders many
stimuli functionally equivalent and can guide
equivalent forms of adaptive and expressive
behavior.
 Regularities in Thoughts, feelings & actions arise:
– because individual views many situations and
stimuli in same way
– Many of individual’s behaviors are similar in
meaning-functionally equivalent
 Consistencies=common traits & personal
dispositions

“Traits” of Traits
A trait has more than nominal existence
 A trait is more generalized than a habit
 A trait is dynamic, or at least deterministic
of behavior
 A trait’s existence may be established
empirically
 A trait is only relatively independent of
other traits

“Traits” of Traits (cont.)
A trait is not synonymous with moral or
social judgment
 A trait may be viewed in light of either the
personality that contains it or its
distribution in the population at large.
 Acts, or even habits, that are inconsistent
with a trait are not proof of the
nonexistence of the trait

Common Traits-Allport
Traits that people in a population share
due to common biological & cultural
heritage which are basic dimensions
 These people have common organizing
structures
 Allport discounted its value in
understanding personality

Personal Dispositions Allport
Trait-a generalized neuropsychic structure
peculiar to an individual
 No two personalities are alike
 Idiographic methods take into account
each person’s uniqueness e.g.: interviews,
behavioral observations, Q-sorts, flexible selfreports-identifies the differences between
people-takes into account each persons
personal disposition

Cardinal Dispositions - Allport
Personal disposition which exerts
overwhelming influence on behavior
 Ruling passions of life
 Albert Schweitzer’s reverence for life
 Ralph Nader’s passion for environment
 Tiger Wood’s passion for golf

Central Dispositions - Allport
Personality is organized around several
central dispositions which are qualities or
characteristics which can succinctly
describe a person
 It is incomplete to just seek general laws
for all person

Secondary Dispositions
Traits that are less conspicuous, less
generalized, less consistent
 Ex: preferences, attitudes


You have to know person very well to
discern secondary dispositions
Proprium - Allport
Core of the personality
 One’s own or one’s self
 Under the layers of our human psyche is
an irreducible core that defines who we
are

Propriate Functions
1. Sense of Bodily Self – distinguishing self from
other objects
2. Sense of Self-Identity – recognition of self as a
distinct point of reference
3. Sense of Self-Esteem – feeling of pride from
accomplishments
4. Sense of Self-Extension – other people and
possessions recognized as extentions of the
self
Propriate Functions (cont.)
5. Self-Image – sense of how others view
him/her
6. Sense of Self as Rational Coper – solving
problems through rational thought
7. Propriate Striving – making long-term
plans and goals – a sense of purpose
Self-as-Knower
Transcends and synthesizes all the propriate
functions – the subjective self
The unique human capacity for selfrecognition and self-consciousness
Functional Autonomy
Traits which have become independent of
their origins in childhood
 Childhood might be root of the trait or
tendency but do not continue to
influence the tendency in adulthood
 It is not necessary to unearth where
tendency or trait which dominates a
person’s life originated in order to help
person deal with the troubling tendency

Perseverative Functional Autonomy
Refers to feedback mechanisms in the
nervous system that are governed by
simple neurological principles.
Become neurologically self-maintaining over
time and help keep the organism “ontrack”
Inclinations for people to satisfy their drives
in familiar and routine ways
Propriate Functional Autonomy
The person’s acquired interests, values,
attitudes & intentions
The master system of motivation that
imparts consistency to the person’s
striving for a congruent self-image and a
higher level of maturity and growth
The Mature Personality
Functionally Autonomous
Motivated by conscious processes
6 Attributes:
1. A widely extended sense of self
2. Capacity for warm social interactions
3. Demonstrates emotional security and
self-acceptace
The Mature Personality (cont.)
4. Demonstrates realistic perception, skills
and assignments (sees things as they
really are)
5. Demonstrates self-insight and humor
6. Has a unifying philosophy of life (may be
religion, or anything that gives meaning
to one’s life)