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Gordon Allport

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159 views

Gordon Allport

allport

Uploaded by

Louriel Nopal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Gordon Allport

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 1


Gordon Allport
Born in 1897 in Indiana
Attended Harvard as an undergraduate and
graduate student
Became an instructor of social ethics at Harvard
Taught the first course offered in personality

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 2


The Nature of Personality
Personality a real entity
Hoped that neurophysiological and
psychological research would one day show us
the location of personality
Distinguished between continuity theories of
personality that are closed and admit little
change and discontinuity theories that are open
and provide for extensive growth

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 3


Traits
Neuropsychic structures within a person that
influence behavior; they are not simply labels we
use to describe or classify behaviors
Common traits hypothetical constructs that
permit us to make comparisons between
individuals
Personal dispositions unique to each person
Cardinal so pervasive that they influence almost
every behavior of an individual
Central highly characteristic of individual
Secondary specific, focused tendencies

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 4


Thinking Critically
Central Dispositions
Think of a close friend you know well. Describe your
friends personality by jotting down words or phrases
that express his or her essential characteristics. Do
the same thing for yourself.
Count the number of words or phrases necessary to
describe your friend and yourself.
Research suggests the number of central
dispositions fall between 5-10.
Does your evidence support this claim?
Do you think this number reflects a certain level of complexity
in personality or does it simply reflect the number of traits the
observer is able to keep track of?

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 5


The Proprium, Functional Autonomy

Central experiences of self-awareness that


people have as they grow and move forward
Propriate functions (Table 10.1)
Functional Autonomy implies that adult
motivation is not necessarily tied to the past
Perseverative
Propriate

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 6


Allport's Propriate Functions

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A Definition of Maturity
Extension of Sense of Self
Warm Relating of Self to Others
Emotional Security (Self-Acceptance)
Realistic Perception, Skills, and Assignments
Self-Objectification (Insight and Humor)
Unifying Philosophy of Life

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 8


Assessment and
Research in Allports Theory
View of personality as open and discontinuous
did not lend itself well to study
Allport encouraged idiographic approach to
study that centers on the individual in order to
understand uniqueness
Use of content analysis in study of personal
documents

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 9


Philosophy, Science,
and Art: Allports Theory
Allport used rigorous scientific methods to
establish common traits
Recognized the value of methodologies used in
literature, philosophy, art and religion to study
uniqueness of individual
Many of his ideas have been useful to clinicians

Copyright Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10 | 10

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