1. Theories of Personality Allport
Chapter 13
© 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

2. Outline Overview of the Psychology of the Individual
Biography of Gordon Allport
Allport’s Approach to Personality Theory
Structure of Personality
Motivation
Cont’d

3. Outline The Study of the Individual Related Research
Critique of Allport
Concept of Humanity

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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
Substance and change
Product and process
Structure and Growth

7. 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

8. 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

9. Structure of Personality
Refers to Basic Units
Personal Dispositions
Levels of Personal Dispositions
Cardinal dispositions
Central dispositions
Secondary dispositions
Motivational and Stylistic Dispositions
Proprium
Behaviors that are regarded as warm, central, and important to their lives

10. Motivation A Theory of Motivation Functional Autonomy
Theory Must Include Both Reactive and Proactive Behaviors
Functional Autonomy
Perseverative Functional Autonomy
Propriate Functional Autonomy
Criterion for Functional Autonomy
Processes That Are Not Functionally Autonomous

11. The Study of the Individual
Morphogenic Science
Study of ideographic information or that which is related to the individual case
The Diaries of Marion Taylor
Letters from Jenny
Studied using a variety of approaches, including common sense and factor analysis

12. 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

13. 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

14. Concept of Humanity Free Choice over Determinism
Optimism over Pessimism
Teleology over Causality
Conscious over Unconscious
Social Influence over Biology
Uniqueness over Similarity