Theories of Personality-Gordon Allport

1. Gordon Allport
Psychology of the
Individual
APRIL P. SALDO
MAED-Guidance & Counseling

2.  He was born on November 11, 1897 in Montezuma,
Indiana, USA.
 Fourth and youngest son of John Allport and Nellie
Wise Allport.
 His father was a physician while his mother was a
former school teacher.
 Alport’s life was marked by “plain protestant piety”
 Mother taught Allport the virtues of clean language and
proper conduct.
Biography

3.  Young Allport developed an early interest in
philosophical and religious questions and had more
facility for words than in games.
 Described himself as a social isolate who fashioned his
own circle of activities.
 Adda Allport-wife; clinical psychologist
 He was a very heavy smoker and he died of lung
cancer.
Biography

4.  He ranked 2nd in a class of 100 high school graduating
students.
 His interest in social ethics and social service acquired
from his parents, was reinforced at Harvard, where he
undertook volunteer works.
 He received his MA in 1921 and his Ph.D. in
Psychology in 1922 from Harvard University.
 His dissertation was “An Experimental Study of the
Traits in Personality”.
Education

5.  Gordon Allport’s encounter with Freud where he told a story of a
4 year old boy who displayed a dirt phobia was the spark that
ignited his interest in personality theory.
 He suspected that Psychoanalysis probed the unconscious too
deeply.
 He decided that Psychology should pay more attention to
conscious or visible motivations.
Allport Meets Freud

6.  He traced the etymology of the word persona back to
Greek roots.
 “The dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychophysical systems that determine his unique
adjustment to his environment”
 Changed last phrase to “that determine his
characteristics behavior and thought”. This change
reflected his penchant for accuracy.
What is Personality?

7.  Dynamic Organization-Personality is constantly changing and
growing, the growth is organized, not
random.
 Psychophysical-personality is composed of both mind and body
functioning together as a unit
 Determine-all facets of personality activate or direct specific
behaviors and thoughts.
 Characteristic Behavior and Thought- everything that we think
or do is characteristic, or typical, of us. Thus, each
person is unique.

8.  Heredity provides the personality with raw materials, such as
physique, intelligence, and temperament, that may then be
shaped, expanded, or limited by the conditions of our
environment.
 Genetic background is responsible for the major portion of our
uniqueness.
 Genetic endowment interacts with our social environment, and
no two people, not even siblings brought up in the same
house, have precisely the same environment.
The Roles of Heredity & Environment

9.  Allport considered personality to be discrete, or discontinuous.
Not only is each person distinct from all others, but each adult is
also divorced from his or her past. He found no continuum of
personality between childhood and adulthood. Primitive
biological urges and reflexes drive infant behavior, whereas
adult functioning is more psychological in nature. In a sense
there are two personalities: one for childhood and one for
adulthood. The adult personality is not constrained by childhood
experiences.
Two Distinct Personalities for Two Stages of Life

10. 1. Personality traits are real and exist within each of us. They are not
theoretical constructs or labels made up to account for behavior.
2. Traits determine or cause behavior. They do not arise only in
response to certain stimuli. They motivate us to seek appropriate
stimuli, and they interact with the environment to produce behavior
3. Traits can be demonstrated empirically. By observing behavior over
time, we can infer the existence of traits in the consistency of a
person’s responses to the same or similar stimuli.
4. Traits are interrelated; they may overlap, even though they represent
different characteristics. For example, aggressiveness and hostility
are distinct but related traits and are frequently observed to occur
together in a person’s behavior.
5. Traits vary with the situation. For example, a person may display the
trait of neatness in one situation and the trait of disorderliness in
another situation
Personality Traits

11. Common Traits
-General characteristics held in common by many people.
-can be inferred from factor analytic studies/personality
inventories.
-They provide the means by which people can be
compared to one other.
Personal Dispositions
- “A generalized neuropsychic structure (peculiar to the
individual), with the capacity to render many stimuli
functionally equivalent , and to initiate and guide
consistent/equivalent forms of adaptive and stylistic
behavior”
Structure of Personality

12. Levels of Personal Disposition
 Cardinal Dispositions
- Eminent characteristics or ruling passion so outstanding
that it dominates their lives.
-Nearly every action in a person’s life revolves around this
one cardinal disposition.
-Individual and not shared with any other person.
 Central Dispositions
-5-10 most outstanding characterictics.
-described as those that would be listed in an accurate
letter of recommendation written by someone who knew
the person quite well.

13.  Secondary Dispositions
- Less conspicuous but far greater in number than central
dispositions.
-Many have secondary dispositions that are not central to
their personality yet occur regularly.
Motivational Disposition
-strongly felt dispositions that receive their motivation from
basic needs and drives.
Stylistic Dispositions
-less intensely experienced personal disposition; guide
action

14.  Allport believed that most people are motivated by present
drives rather than past events.
 They are aware of what they are doing and have some
understanding of why they are doing it.
 People not only react to the environment but also shape their
environment and cause it to react to them.
 He contended that an accurate theory of personality must
allow for PROACTIVE BEHAVIOR
Motivation

15.  Putting so much emphasis on the self or proprium, Allport
wanted to define it as carefully as possible. He came at that
task from two directions, phenomenologically and functionally.
 First, phenomenologically, i.e. the self as experienced: He
suggested that the self is composed of the aspects of your
experiencing that you see as most essential (as opposed to
incidental or accidental), warm (or “precious,” as opposed
to emotionally cool), and central (as opposed to peripheral).
Proprium

16. 1. Extension of the sense of self
-Mature people seek to identify with and participate in
events outside themselves.
-They develop an unselfish interest in work, play and
recreation
-Social Interest (Gemeinschaftsgefuhl), family, and
spiritual life are important to them.
2. Warm relating of self to others
-They have the capacity to love others in an intimate and
compassionate manner.
-Warm relating is dependent on people’s ability to extend
their sense of self.
Specific Requirements for Psychological Health

17. -Only by looking beyond themselves can people love
nonpossessively and unselfishly.
-Have healthy sexual attitude and do not exploit others for
personal gratification.
3. Emotional security or self-acceptance
-Accept themselves for what they are
-Have “emotional poise.”
-Not overly upset when things do not go as planned or
when they are having a bad day.
-They do not dwell on minor irritations and recognize that
frustrations and inconveniences are a part of living.

18. 4. Realistic Perception
-Healthy people do not live in a fantasy world or bend
reality to fit their own wishes.
-Problem-oriented rather that self-centered.
5. Insight and Humor
-Mature people know themselves and have no need to
attribute their own mistakes and weaknesses to others.
-Nonhostile sense of humor: Have the capacity to laugh at
themselves rather than relying on sexual/aggressive
themes to make people laugh.
-Insight and humor are closely related and may be aspects
of self-objectification: they see themselves objectively.

19. 6. Unifying philosophy of Life
-Healthy people have a clear view of the purpose of life.
-Without this view, their insight would be empty and
barren.
-Humor would be trivial and cynical.
-This philosophy may or may not be religious.

20.  Proposes that the motives of mature, emotionally healthy adults
are not functionally connected to the prior experiences in which
they initially appeared.
PERSEVERATIVE FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY
-This refers essentially to habits– behaviors that no longer
serve their original purpose, but still continue.
PROPRIATE FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY
-is something a bit more self-directed than habits.
-the master system of motivation that confers unity in
personality.
-self-sustaining motives that are related to the proprium.
Functional Autonomy

21.  Biological Drives (eating, drinking, sleeping)
 Motives that reduce basic drives
 Reflex actions (eye blink)
 Constitutional Equipment (Physique, intelligence,
temperament)
 Habits in the process of being formed
 Behavior that need primary reinforcement
 Sublimations tied to childhood sexual desires
 Neurotic/Pathological sysmptoms
Processes that are not Functionally Autonomous

22. His functional definition became a developmental theory
all by itself. The self has seven functions, which tend to
arise at certain times of one’s life:
1. Sense of body
2. Self-identity
3. Self-esteem
4. Self-extension
5. Self-image
6. Rational coping
7. Propriate striving
Development of Personality

23. Development of Personality

24.  They are characterized by proactive behavior: not only
react to external stimuli, but also capable of
consciously acting on their environment to react with
them. Proactive behavior is not merely for reducing
tensions but also for establishing new one.
 Mature personalities are more likely than disturbed
ones to be motivated by conscious processes.
Characterictics of a Healthy Adult Individual

25.  Healthy people have experienced a relatively trauma-
free childhood even though their later years may have
conflict and sufferings.
 Age is not a requisite for maturity, although healthy
persons seem to become more mature as they age.
Characterictics of a Healthy Individual

26. The idea of propriate functional autonomy -- values -- lead Allport
and his associates Vernon and Lindzey to develop a
categorization of values (in a bookcalled A Study of Values,
1960) and a test of values.
1. the theoretical -- a scientist, for example, values truth.
2. the economic -- a businessperson may value usefulness.
3. the aesthetic -- an artist naturally values beauty.
4. the social -- a nurse may have a strong love of people.
5. the political -- a politician may value power.
6. the religious -- a monk or nun probably values unity.
The Study of Values

27. Personality is so complex that to evaluate we must employ many
techniques. He listed 11 major methods:
• Constitutional and physiological diagnosis
• Cultural setting, membership, role
• Personal documents and case studies
• Self-appraisal
• Conduct Analysis
• Ratings
• Tests and Scales
• Projective techniques
• Depth Analysis
• Expressive behavior
• Synoptic procedures (Combining information from several sources in a
synopsis)
Assessment in Allport’s Theory

28.  Boeree,C.G. (2006). Gordon Allport.
webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/allport.pdf
 Schultz, D. P. & Schultz, S. E. (2013). Theories of Personality
(10th ed.). Wadsworth, USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
References

29. THANK YOU!