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Questions and Answers
What was Gordon Allport's major when he received his bachelor's degree in 1919?
What was Gordon Allport's major when he received his bachelor's degree in 1919?
Where did Gordon Allport teach English and sociology in 1919-1920?
Where did Gordon Allport teach English and sociology in 1919-1920?
Who did Gordon Allport meet with in Vienna, an encounter that greatly influenced his later ideas on personality?
Who did Gordon Allport meet with in Vienna, an encounter that greatly influenced his later ideas on personality?
What was the topic of the course Gordon Allport taught in 1924, which he believed was the first in an American college?
What was the topic of the course Gordon Allport taught in 1924, which he believed was the first in an American college?
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Who contributed to Gordon Allport's work?
Who contributed to Gordon Allport's work?
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What award did Gordon Allport receive in 1963?
What award did Gordon Allport receive in 1963?
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How many definitions of personality did Gordon Allport spell out across various fields?
How many definitions of personality did Gordon Allport spell out across various fields?
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In what year did Gordon Allport define personality as 'the dynamic organization within an individual of psychophysical systems that determine their unique adjustments to their environment'?
In what year did Gordon Allport define personality as 'the dynamic organization within an individual of psychophysical systems that determine their unique adjustments to their environment'?
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What was Gordon Allport's perspective on individual studies?
What was Gordon Allport's perspective on individual studies?
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Who did Gordon Allport accept contributions from in his theory building?
Who did Gordon Allport accept contributions from in his theory building?
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What was Gordon Allport's warning to psychologists?
What was Gordon Allport's warning to psychologists?
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What was the occupation of Gordon Allport's father?
What was the occupation of Gordon Allport's father?
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What characterized Gordon Allport's early life?
What characterized Gordon Allport's early life?
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What was Gordon Allport's academic achievement in high school?
What was Gordon Allport's academic achievement in high school?
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Where did Gordon Allport enter in 1915?
Where did Gordon Allport enter in 1915?
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What marked the beginning of Gordon Allport's association with Harvard University?
What marked the beginning of Gordon Allport's association with Harvard University?
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Study Notes
Dispositional Theories: Allport
- Gordon Allport, a prominent personality theorist, emphasized the uniqueness of individuals and opposed trait and factor theories that reduce individual behaviors to common traits.
Overview of Allport's Psychology of the Individual
- Allport referred to individual studies as morphogenic (single) science, contrasting them with nomothetic (group) methods.
- He advocated for an eclectic approach to theory building, accepting contributions from various psychologists, including Freud, Maslow, Rogers, Eysenck, and Skinner.
- Allport argued against particularism and warned against neglecting aspects of human nature in a single theory.
Biography of Gordon Allport
- Gordon Willard Allport was born on November 11, 1897, in Montezuma, Indiana.
- His father, John E. Allport, was a physician who turned the household into a miniature hospital.
- Gordon Allport developed an interest in philosophical and religious questions at the age of 6.
- He graduated second in his high school class of 100 in 1915.
- Allport entered Harvard in 1915, following in the footsteps of his brother Floyd.
- He received his bachelor's degree in 1919 with a major in philosophy and economics.
- In 1919-1920, Allport taught English and sociology at Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey.
- In 1920, Allport met with Sigmund Freud in Vienna, which greatly influenced his later ideas on personality.
Allport's Approach to Personality Theory
- Allport defined personality as the dynamic organization within an individual of psychophysical systems that determine their unique adjustments to their environment (1937).
- He later revised the definition to "the dynamic organization within an individual of those psychophysical systems that determine their unique and characteristic behavior and thought" (1961).
- Allport traced the word persona back to early Greek roots and spelled out 49 definitions of personality across various fields.
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Description
Explore Gordon Allport's theories on personality and individuality, rejecting trait and factor approaches in favor of a unique, eclectic perspective. Learn about his contributions to psychology and contrasting views on nomothetic and morphogenic methods.