Theories of Personality
Allport: Psychology of the Individual
Chapter 13
Outline
• Overview of the Psychology of the
Individual
• Biography of Gordon Allport
• Allport’s Approach to Personality Theory
• Structure of Personality
• Motivation
Outline
• The Study of the Individual
• Related Research
• Critique of Allport
• Concept of Humanity
Overview of the Psychology
of the Individual
• Emphasized Uniqueness of the
Individual
• Traits Do Not Capture Individuality
• Studied the Individual (Morphogenic
Science) in contrast to Nomothetic
Methods
• Broad, Comprehensive Theory
Preferable to Narrow Theory
Biography of Allport
• Born in Montezuma, Indiana in 1897
• Youngest son of a country doctor and a former
schoolteacher
• Earned undergraduate degrees in philosophy
and economics from Harvard in 1919
• After fortuitous meeting with Freud, decided to
complete a PhD in psychology at Harvard in
1922
• President of American Psychological
Association in 1939
• Died in 1967 of lung cancer
Allport’s Approach to
Personality Theory
• Sought to Answer Three
Questions:
– What Is Personality?
• Personality is both physical and
psychological
• Includes both overt and covert thoughts
• Not only is but does
• Product and process
• Structure and Growth
Allport’s Approach to
Personality Theory
• What Is the Role of Conscious
Motivation?
– Healthy adults aware of what and why they
are acting
– Accepted self-report at face value
– Some motivation is driven by hidden
impulses
– Most compulsive behaviors originate in
childhood
Allport’s Approach to
Personality Theory
• What Are the Characteristics of a
Healthy Person?
– Six criteria for maturity:
• Extension of the sense of self
• Warm relating of self to others
• Emotional security or self-acceptance
• Realistic perception of their environment
• Insight and humor
• Unifying philosophy of life
Structure of Personality
• Refers to Basic Units
– Common traits
• Held by many people
– Personal Dispositions
• Levels of Personal Dispositions
– Cardinal dispositions
– Central dispositions
– Secondary dispositions
Structure of Personality
• Motivational Dispositions
– Motivation from basic needs and drives
– Initiate actions
• Stylistic Dispositions
– Guide actions
– Exp: How to dress?
• Proprium
– Behaviors that are regarded as warm,
central, and important to their lives
– Values, beliefs, styles…
Motivation
• A Theory of Motivation
– Theory Must Include Both Reactive
and Proactive Behaviors
• Functional Autonomy
– Perseverative Functional Autonomy
• Neurological principles
• Exp:a rat in a maze?
• Alcohol and other dependences
– Propriate Functional Autonomy
• Occupations, hobbies, interests…
Related Research
• The Religious Orientation Scale (ROS)
– Extrinsic orientation
– Intrinsic orientation
• Religion, Prayer, and Health
– Powell et al. (2003)
• Attending church regularly is associated with feeling better
and living longer
– Masters et al. (2005)
• Religion and cardiovascular health
• Intrinsic religious orientation serves as a buffer against
everyday life stressors
– Smith et al. (2003)
• Religion and depression
• Intrinsic religious orientation is negatively related, and
extrinsic orientation positively related, to depression
• How to Reduce Prejudice: Optimal Contact
– Pettigrew & Tropp (2005, 2009)
• Optimal contact reduces prejudice, not only toward races, but
also toward the elderly and the mentally ill
Critique of Allport
• Allport’s Theory Is:
– High on Parsimony and Internal
Consistency
– Moderate on Generating Research
and Guiding Action
– Low on Falsifiability and Organizing
Knowledge
Concept of Humanity
• Free Choice over Determinism
• Optimism over Pessimism
• Teleology over Causality
• Conscious over Unconscious
• Social Influence over Biology
• Uniqueness over Similarity