Gordon Allport's Personality Theory PDF

TRAIT APPROACHES: A BRIEF HISTORY  It all began with Hippocrates… Trait classifications date from the time of the Greek physician Hippocrates (460–377 B.C.), more than 2,000 years before the theories we generally know. Hippocrates distinguished four types of people: happy, unhappy, t...

TRAIT APPROACHES: A BRIEF HISTORY  It all began with Hippocrates… Trait classifications date from the time of the Greek physician Hippocrates (460–377 B.C.), more than 2,000 years before the theories we generally know. Hippocrates distinguished four types of people: happy, unhappy, temperamental, and apathetic based on their internal bodily fluids, or “humors.” He believed that these personality traits were constitutionally based, determined by biological functioning rather than by experience or learning. William Sheldon’s Typology: Like the approach taken by Hippocrates, Sheldon’s work considers personality traits or characteristics to be largely fixed, that is, constant and unvarying regardless of the situations in which we find ourselves.  The Critique The Response Some personality psychologists Later trait theorists, notably Gordon criticized the notion that Allport and Raymond Cattell, never personality consists of distinct implied that there was a cross- traits. situational consistency in human behavior. They argued instead that if individual traits are sufficient to Both theorists took into account the explain personality, then people effect on behavior of specific events will behave consistently in all and of environmental and social situations. influences. This idea is not supported by Their was an interactionist approach, a research or by our own experiences recognition that behavior is a function in dealing with other people. As we of the interaction between both personal all know, human behavior tends to and situational variables. vary with the situation.  Allport, Cattell & the Trait Theory These theorists differed from most of the theorists in one important respect. Their insights are not based on the psychotherapeutic approach using case studies or interviews with emotionally disturbed patients on a couch or in a clinic. Instead, they studied personality by observing emotionally healthy persons in an academic laboratory setting. Beyond that similarity, and the fact that their goal was to identify personality traits, Allport and Cattell each approached their study differently. (Allport may also be considered within the humanistic framework because he focused on the total human being and the innate potential for growth and self- realization.) Later, the work of Hans Eysenck, the five-factor model, and the temperament theory will be discussed. GORDON ALLPORT Personal Life 1897- 1967 Major Themes Definition of Personality Traits Development of Proprium Prejudice Critical Analysis  Allport vs Freud Allport disputed Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis on several points. The role of unconscious - suggested that emotionally healthy people function in rational and conscious terms, aware and in control of many of the forces that motivate them. Historical determinism – the importance of past in determining the present. Distinction between normal & abnormal personalities. See notes PERSONAL LIFE  Early Years Born in Indiana, Allport was the youngest of 4 sons. Due to financial difficulties , his father took the family to Indiana at the time of his birth. Lacking adequate office and clinical facilities, Dr. Allport turned the household into a miniature hospital. Both patients and nurses were found in the home, and a clean, sterile atmosphere prevailed.  Social Isolation Too young to be a playmate to his older brothers, Allport was isolated from children outside the family as well. He recalled, “I fashioned my own circle of activities. He described himself as skillful with words but not at sports or games and as someone who worked hard to be the center of attention of the few friends he did have. In Allport’s personality theory, one of the major propositions is that psychologically healthy adults are unaffected by childhood events. Perhaps reflecting this belief, Allport revealed little information about his childhood years. What he did tell, however, demonstrates a parallel between his own early experiences and the theory he later developed.  Identification with older brother Arising from his childhood conditions of isolation and rejection, Allport showed inferiority feelings for which he attempted to compensate by striving to excel. He wrote about the identity quest that resulted from his inferiority feelings with respect to his brothers and other children. As Allport grew older, he began to identify with his oldest brother, Floyd, perhaps envious of his brother’s accomplishments. At the age of 31, Gordon wrote that he had “published several articles of no great importance and [was] not to be confused with my more eminent brother” The attempt to emulate Floyd may have threatened Gordon’s sense of identity. To assert his individuality, Gordon Allport may have been motivated to refute his identification with Floyd by declaring in his personality theory that his adult motives and interests were independent of his childhood feelings. He later formalized this idea as the concept of functional autonomy.  College Years Although Allport ranked second in his high school graduating class of 100, he admitted to being uninspired about what to do next. At the end of the summer of 1915, he applied to Harvard and was accepted. He wrote, “Overnight my world was remade.” Philanthropic work because “It gave me a feeling of competence, to offset a generalized inferiority feeling.” He took undergraduate courses in psychology but at that time did not intend to pursue a career in the field. After graduation, Gordon spent a year on the faculty of Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey, and later accepted the fellowship Harvard offered for graduate study in psychology. His biographer noted, “The thought of becoming a psychologist and perhaps becoming more like his successful brother appealed to Allport”  The Meeting With Freud While visiting his brother in Vienna, with a certain audacity, the 22-year-old Allport wrote to Freud announcing that he was in Vienna and offered the father of psychoanalysis an opportunity to meet with him. The encounter proved to be a fortuitous life-altering event for Allport. Not knowing what to talk about, the young visitor told Freud about seeing a small boy on the tram car earlier that day. Allport claimed that he chose this particular incident to get Freud’s reaction to a dirt phobia in a child so young, but he was quite stunned when Freud “fixed his kindly therapeutic eyes upon me and said, ‘And was that little boy you?’”. Allport said he felt guilty and quickly changed the topic. Allport then talked about his dislike of cooked raisins: I told him I thought it due to the fact that at the age of three, a nurse had told me they were “bugs.” Freud asked, “When you recalled this episode, did your dislike vanish?” I said, “No.” He replied, “Then you are not at the bottom of it.”  Henry Murray later commented that “Freud just hit [Allport] right on the head, right on the nose” Allport was shaken by Freud’s question. For the rest of his life, Allport denied that he was the superclean, proper little boy in the story but the incident clearly left a deep impression on him. Years later he wrote, “My single encounter with Freud was traumatic”  Allports final path towards Trait Psychology He suspected that psychoanalysis probed the unconscious too deeply, as Freud tried to do with him. Psychology, Allport decided, should pay more attention to conscious or visible motivations. This was the path he chose for his study of personality. When Allport returned to the United States, he immediately enrolled in the PhD program at Harvard. Offered the first personality course at Harvard. The course combined social ethics and the pursuit of goodness and morality with the scientific discipline of psychology. It also reflected Allport’s strong personal dispositions of cleanliness and morality. MAJOR THEMES  A. Consistency of Personality Allport argued that humans are consistent (“remarkably recognizable”) in personality even though they may vary from situation to situation. The debate of trait vs state › Is one's personality consistent across situations and contexts? B. The Concept of the Self (The PROPRIUM) Allport argued for the idea of self as a major focus of personality growth. C. Interaction of Personality & Social Influences Although Allport focused on personality traits, he did recognize the importance of social factors and how they influence individuals. DEFINITION OF PERSONALITY  Allport’s Definition of Personality Traced the etymology of the word persona back to early Greek roots After tracing the history of the term, Allport spelled out 49 definitions of personality as used in theology, philosophy, law, sociology, and psychology Allport chose each phrase of his definition carefully so that each word conveys precisely what he wanted to say.  Definition “the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment” (Allport, 1937) Later he changed the last phrase to read “that determine his characteristic behavior and thought” (Allport, 1961) -See notes By dynamic organization, Allport means that although personality is constantly changing and growing, the growth is organized, not random. Psychophysical means that personality is composed of mind and body functioning together as a unit; personality is neither all mental nor all biological. By determine, Allport means that all facets of personality activate or direct specific behaviours and thoughts. “Personality is something and does something” (Circular Reasoning-see notes) The phrase characteristic behaviour and thought means that everything we think and do is characteristic, or typical, of us. Thus, each person is unique.  The More than any other personality theorist, Gordon Allport emphasized the uniqueness of the Uniqueness individual. of Individual He believed that attempts to describe people in terms of general traits rob them of their unique individuality. For this reason, Allport objected to trait and factor theories that tend to reduce individual behaviors to common traits. He insisted, for example, that one person’s stubbornness is different from any other person’s stubbornness and the manner in which one person’s stubbornness interacts with his or her extraversion and creativity is duplicated by no other individual.  SO HE CONCLUDED THAT.. “Human being are both the product and process. People have organized structure , but they have the capability to change. So we can say that personality is both physical and psychological. It is not only something it also does something”.  Two Distinct Personalities 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. 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.  ALLPORT’S VIEW OF PERSONALITY It’s conscious rather than unconscious. It’s present and future focused rather than past. It’s unique for each individual rather than proposed similarities for large group of people. He chose to study the normal rather than abnormal population to define personality  Psychologically Healthy Person Allport presented the idea of “Mature personality” long before Maslow’s self-actualization theory. According to Allport a psychologically healthy person has a mature personality. He classified mature people as having Proactive behavior. Proactive Behavior: they don’t just react to external stimuli, but are capable of consciously acting in environment in new and innovative way. Mature personality is flexible and not directed by childhood related unconscious desires and motives. Healthy people usually have a trauma free childhood.  6 CRITERIA OF MATURE PERSONALITY EXTENSION OF THE SENSE OF SELF Mature people are not self-centered. They get involved in problems not centered on them. They develop unselfish interest in work and play. They have social interest, family and spiritual interest. Everyone has self-love ; self-extension is the earmark of maturity  6 CRITERIA OF MATURE PERSONALITY WARM RELATING OF SELF TO OTHERS Capacity to love in compassionate manner. They have the ability to extend their sense of self. They can look beyond themselves and love others unselfishly. Treat others with respect Healthy sexual attitude. They don't exploit others for gratification.  6 CRITERIA OF MATURE PERSONALITY EMOTIONAL SECURITY/ SELF-ACCEPTANCE Accept themselves for what they are with emotional poise. They don’t get upset when things don’t go as planned They don’t dwell on minor irritations. Consider frustrations as part of living.  6 CRITERIA OF MATURE PERSONALITY REALISTIC PERCEPTION OF ENVIROMENT Mature people don’t live in fantasy world. They don’t bend reality to fit their own wishes. Are problem-oriented Are in touch with their world.  6 CRITERIA OF MATURE PERSONALITY INSIGHT AND HUMOUR They can introspect and don’t attribute their mistakes to others. Have a non hostile sense of humor. Can laugh at themselves. Can see themselves objectively without the need to pretend.  6 CRITERIA OF MATURE PERSONALITY UNIFYING PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE Healthy people have a clear purpose of life. Their philosophy of life may be religious or not. Personally Allport felt that mature religious inclination is crucial in most mature individuals. Such a person has well developed conscience and serves other.  What is the structure of personality? These are the building blocks or basic units, which describe you. Freud = instincts Eysenck = factors Allport = personal disposition/ traits They set the path for our future endeavors. PERSONALITY TRAITS  In 1936, Allport went through a copy of a Webster's dictionary and found every word that he thought could be used to describe a person. He wound up with a list of 4,500 traits. From this initial investigation, he created his trait theory Allport's trait theory dictates that everyone has traits that are consistent with the person's individuality and behavior What are Traits? › Consistent and enduring ways of reacting to our environment According to Allport, traits have an actual physical location in the nervous system; we infer its existence because of consistency of behavior.  Common Traits TRAITS Possessed by all people to a varying extent. They are trait units that could be applied to a number of people such as members of a culture. Also called as Nomothetic trait. They provide means by which one culture can be compared to another Personal Dispositions Also called as Individual traits or Idiographic traits. They are possessed by only one person. They are those unique to the individual that why called Ideographical traits. Allport called them “generalized neuropsychic structure”.  How do we know what traits a person possesses? 1. We can infer them from language (Dictionary Study). – Allport & Odbert identified 17,953 trait names, from the dictionary (4.5% of total words). 2. Inferring Traits from Behavior Allport argues that what people do, is a great clue as to their personality traits By observing others either in naturalistic settings or through experiments, we can infer some of their traits. 3. Inferring traits from Personality measurement We can also infer traits from personality tests. Allport examined people’s values, because he felt that you could understand people’s motivations from their value systems. He along with other colleagues developed the Allport- Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values.  Allport-Vernon Lindzey Study of Values Self-report questionnaire-- 60 questions Allport reported that college students who entered different occupations had different value scores. Huntley and Davis (1983) found that scores on the study of values taken during college were associated with occupations of male students 25 years later.  Allport-Vernon Lindzey Study of Values Scale Description of value Typical Occupation Social Helping people Social work Theoretical Search for truth Professor Economic Pragmatic, applied Business Aesthetic Artistic values Artist Political Power & influence Politics Religious Religion, harmony Clergy  Categories of Traits How pervasive is the influence of a trait? It varies with the trait. Allport argued we have three categories of traits: cardinal, secondary, and central. Cardinal traits are most pervasive; secondary traits least pervasive.  A. Cardinal traits Some people possess an eminent characteristic or ruling passion so outstanding that it dominates their lives Allport stated that not everyone has a cardinal trait, because not everyone lives in such a way that a single idea shapes their entire lives People who do develop one of these traits usually do so later in life Batman- Passion for justice Hitler- Intense drive for power Devdas- Lover Oprah Winfrey- Queen of talk Queen of Talk Lover Passion for Justice Intense Drive for Power  B. Central traits Central traits are the major characteristics of an individual. They represent dispositions that are more limited in range; broadly consistent but perhaps not always. These usually number from 5 to 10 in any one person (e.g., honesty, sociability, assertiveness, kindness, honesty, sociability, achievement motivation. These are rather pervasive and effect many behaviors. We can use a small number of adjectives to describe someone.  C. Secondary traits These are characteristics that effect behavior in fewer situations and are less influential than central or cardinal traits They are least prominent and generalized For example: likes Fanta; prefers Karachi to Lahore A preference for chocolate ice cream or dislike of modern abstract art would be considered a secondary trait.  FURTHER CATEGORIZATION OF DISPOSITIONS MOTIVATIONAL STYLISTIC Personal dispositions that are less All personal dispositions are dynamic intensely experienced as stylistic ,some traits are more intensely felt traits. than others; motivational traits. Stylistic traits guide action. These strongly felt traits receive their Stylistic PD might be impeccable motivation from basic needs and drives. personal appearance. People are Motivational traits initiate action. motivated to dress because of a basic need to stay warm, but the Eating, dressing manner in which they attire themselves is determined by their stylistic personal dispositions (Allport, 1961).  Whether motivational or stylistic, some personal dispositions are close to the core of the personality. While some personal dispositions stay at the periphery. Those PD that are at the centre of personality are important part of self. They are characteristics a person calls “That is me”. All characteristics that are “mine” belongs to PROPRIUM PROPRIUM Whether motivational or stylistic, some personal dispositions are close to the core of personality, whereas others are more on the periphery. Those that are at the center of personality are experienced by the person as being an important part of self. They are characteristics that an individual refers to in such terms as “That is me” or “This is mine.” All characteristics that are “peculiarly mine” belong to the proprium  Acc. To Allport all those behaviors and characteristics people regard as warm, central and important in live. Proprium is not the whole personality. Many characteristics of the personality are not warm like: (i) basic needs and drives (ii) tribal customs (wearing clothes) (iii) habitual behaviors(brushing teeth) These peripheral traits are not crucial to your sense of self. Proprium includes aspects important to sense of self-identity and self- enhancement. THE DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF PROPRIUM  Before the proprium begins to emerge, the infant experiences no self- consciousness, no awareness of self. There is not yet a separation of “me” from everything else. Infants receive sensory impressions from the external environment and react to them automatically and reflexively, with no ego to mediate between stimulus and response. Allport described infants as pleasure seeking, destructive, selfish, impatient, and dependent. He called them “unsocialized horrors.” Our genetic inheritance, which is the basis of our eventual personality, does exist in infancy, but there is little of what could be called a “personality.” The infant simply is driven by reflexes to reduce tension and maximize pleasure.  The first three stages in the development of the proprium span the years from birth to about age 4. The bodily self develops when infants begin to be aware of what Allport referred to as a “bodily me.” For example, infants begin to distinguish between their own fingers and the object they are grasping. Next, the self-identity stage is marked by a sense of continuity of one’s identity. Children realize that they remain the same people, despite changes in their bodies and their abilities. Self-identity is enhanced when children learn their name and see themselves as distinct from other people. Self-esteem develops when they discover that they can accomplish things on their own. They are motivated to build, explore, and manipulate objects, behaviours that sometimes can be destructive. If parents frustrate their child’s need to explore at this stage, then the emerging sense of self-esteem can be thwarted, replaced by feelings of humiliation and anger.  The extension-of-self stage involves the growing awareness of objects and people in the environment and the identification of them as belonging to the child. Children speak of “my house,” “my parents,” and “my school.” A self-image develops next, incorporating how children see and would like to see themselves. These actual and ideal self-images develop from interaction with the parents, who make the child aware of their expectations and of the extent to which the child is satisfying or failing to satisfy those expectations. The self-extension and self-image stages typically occur between the ages of 4 and 6. The self as a rational coper stage occurs between ages 6 and 12, when children realize that reason and logic can be applied to solving everyday problems. The propriate striving stage follows, when adolescents begin to formulate plans and goals for the future. Until they do so, their sense of self (their proprium) will remain incomplete.  Bodily self (0-2 years) › My body vs foreign object Self-identity (0-2 years) › We have a name! › Separate from others › Continuation of self from one day to another Self-esteem (2-3 years) › Recognizing our own value Self-extension (4th-6 years) › ‘my is very close to me!’ › External objects, people, & events become ‘US’ › Defining ourselves in terms of others (professions, groups, fandom) Self-image (4-6 years) › The ‘looking glass-self’ › Development of persona, the ideal-self Functional Allport’s concept of functional autonomy proposes that the motives of mature, Autonomy emotionally healthy adults are not functionally connected to the prior experiences in which they initially appeared  Functional Autonomy Its is the capstone of Allport’s ideas on motivation. Allport called Freud's theory of drive reduction and pleasure principle as “theories of unchanging motives” and developed his theory in a response to it. They are built on historical facts, rather than functional facts. “Some, but not all, human motives are functionally independent from the original motive responsible for the behavior” If a motive is functionally autonomous, it is the explanation for that behavior, and you don’t need to probe further for primary cause. Example: If hoarding money is a functionally autonomous motive, then the miser’s behavior is not traceable to childhood toilet training or reward and punishment. Simply the miser likes money, and this is the only explanation necessary.  – We retain motives that enhance our self-esteem or self-image. – Thus, a direct relationship exists between our interests and our abilities: We enjoy doing what we do well. Allport noted that not all behaviors and motives could be explained by the principles of functional autonomy. Some behaviors—such as reflexes, fixations, neuroses and behaviors arising from biological drives—are not under the control of functionally autonomous motives. PREJUDICE  THINKING ILL OF Briefest OTHERS WITHOUT definition: SUFFICIENT PROOF Judgments? Prejudgments become prejudices only if they are not reversible when exposed to new knowledge.  Two Ingredients of Prejudice: Attitudes and Beliefs ATTITUDE of favor or disfavor and BELIEF A wrong overgeneralization – I can’t stand (…a specific group...) – ….. are smelly. – I don’t want (…any ethnic group…) in my town – (…any ethnic group…) are sly and tricky  5 Stages of Racism 1. Antilocution (negative verbal remarks): Most people who have prejudices talk about them with like-minded friends, occasionally with strangers, they may express their antagonism freely. But many people never go beyond this mild degree of antipathetic action. 1. Avoidance: – If the prejudice is more intense, it leads the individual to avoid members of the disliked group, even perhaps at the cost of considerable inconvenience. – In this case, the bearer of prejudice does not directly inflict harm upon the group he dislikes. He takes the burden of accommodation and withdrawal entirely upon himself. 1. Discrimination: Here the prejudiced person makes detrimental distinctions of an active sort. He undertakes to exclude all members of the group in question from certain types of employment, from residential housing, political rights, etc. Segregation is an institutionalized form of discrimination, enforced legally or by common custom. 1. Physical Attack: Under conditions of heightened emotion prejudice may lead to acts of violence or semi-violence. An unwanted ethnic family may be forcibly ejected from a neighborhood, or so severely threatened that they leave in fear.  5. Extermination: Lynching, massacres, and the Hitlerian program of genocide mark the ultimate degree of violent expression of prejudice.  How to Theory of Optimal Contact: Allport through his interest in extrinsic and Reduce intrinsic religious orientation realized many religious people are very Prejudice prejudiced. To reduce prejudice he provided the theory of optimal contact, which states “If members of majority and minority groups interacted more under optimal conditions, there would be less prejudice”. CONTACT HYPOTHESIS Optimal Conditions were : 1. Equal status between 2 groups 2. common goals 3. cooperation 4. Support of an authority figure.  SUMMARY Gordon Allport, whose major emphasis was on the uniqueness of each individual, built a theory of personality as a reaction against what he regarded as the non-humanistic positions of both psychoanalysis learning theory. However, Allport was eclectic in his approach and accepted many of the ideas of other theorists. CRITICAL ANALYSIS  Strengths Objectivity. – Perhaps the biggest strength of trait theory is it's reliance on statistical or objective data. Ease of Use and Understanding. › Trait theory has been used to develop a number of assessment devices. › It provides an easy to understand continuum that provides a good deal of information regarding a person's personality, interaction, and beliefs about the self and the world. › Understanding traits allows us to compare people, to determine which traits allow a person to do better in college, in relationships, or in a specific career.  Criticisms – Poor Predictor of Future Behavior. While we may be able to say, in general that a person falls on the high end or low end of a specific trait, trait theory fails to address a person's state. A state is a temporary way of interacting and dealing with the self and others. For example, an introvert may be quiet, reserved, intellectual, and calm in most situations. When around close friends, however, he may seem quite outgoing, fun-loving, and excitable. The same could be said for the extrovert who, when presented with a job interview, may act more introverted, shy, reserved, and intellectual.  Does not address development While statistics may be a strength of trait theory, it may also be it's biggest criticism. Because it is based on statistics rather than theory, it provides no explanation of personality development. Where most theories argue for the development (past), the current personality (present) and provide a means for change (future), trait theory is stuck in the present. No Means of Change. Perhaps because trait theory does little to offer ideas about trait development, it also provides little or no guidance in the changing of negative aspects of a trait.