Gordon Allport

Gordon Allport (1897 – 1967)

                                                         Psychology of Individual 

                Gordon Allport’s theory is known as the trait theory because he emphasized the nature and  evolution of personality traits. His theory is also called the psychology of individuals because it emphasizes a person’s uniqueness.

                Allport defined and developed the concept of individual traits, later called personal dispositions (1961). He divided this into three kinds: Cardinal disposition includes traits that dominate the personality, influencing almost everything a person does. Central disposition on the other hand, are characteristics which typify a person’s behavior. Lastly, the secondary disposition are responses to particular stimuli which may occur on rare occasions.

                There are also eight criteria of traits.  He saw elements in traits that can be used as accurate and meaningful units of study for personality. He also  used the idiographic and nomathetic approaches in studying personality. The idiograph method is the intensive study of simple case. It emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual. The nomothetic method, on the other hand, studies a group of individuals and analyzes them. He emphasized common traits or generalized patterns that could be used to make comparisons among groups of people.

                Allport also created the concept of functional autonomy. The functional autonomy represents the present “go” of interests and tendencies that initiates and sustains current behavior. It helps to express the unique motives that confer distinctiveness to a person’s characteristic adjustment. It also indicates that a behavioral pattern originally instrumental to the satisfaction of a biological need remains an independent aspect of living even after the biological need is no longer an important force. The maturity of personality is indicated by the degree of functional autonomy of its motives.

                He is also found that learning is an important mode of motivation. Self-actualization helps one to advance towards his or her goals. People learn to do things and create a personality because of mechanical determinism and self-actualization – “becoming” even if they appear to be contradictory. “Becoming” means an advance towards goals. One learns how to have a personality through differentiation and integration.

                He also believed that adult personality matures slowly through stages of the propium that means the main source of learning about the self and finding the personality. It includes: bodily-sense, self-identity, self-esteem, self-extension, self-image, self as a rational coper and propionate striving.

                He was interested in healthy human adults who have the following characteristics: self-extension, warm human interaction, emotional security and self acceptance, realistic perceptions, self-objectification and a unifying philosophy in life.

                Allport believed that there is no relationship between early experiences and adult personality, that motivation for present behavior is in the present, not in the past.