TOP - Gordon Allport (Psychology of the Individual)

Who created the Psychology of the Individual theory?

GORDON WILLARD ALLPORT

Who is the Father of Personality Theories?

- 1st psychologist who gave thorough thought to the concept of traits as the most appropriate way of describing and studying personality and the 1st personality theorist to study the psychologically healthy individual.

GORDON WILLARD ALLPORT

Place where Gordon Willard Allport is born and what year?

Montezuma, Indiana in 1897

Birth order of Gordon Willard Allport in his family

youngest (4th out of 4 boys)

His mother was a _______ and his father was a _______ turned into a ________.

Teacher; salesman turned into a doctor

Turning point of Gordon Willard Allport

Meeting with Sigmund Freud

What the the THEMES IN GORDON WILLARD ALLPORT'S WORK?

1. Consistency of Personality

2. The Concept of the Self

3. Interaction of Personality & Social Influences

4. Emphasis on Uniqueness

5. Motivation occurs independent of past experiences

It is the present motives such as interests,

attitudes, and lifestyle that govern a person's behavior.

MOTIVATION OCCURS INDEPENDENT OF PAST EXPERIENCES

Allport recognize the importance of social factors in

influencing an individual.

INTERACTION OF PERSONALITY & SOCIAL INFLUENCES

Self is the major focus of personality growth.

THE CONCEPT OF THE SELF

Each person is different from the other and should therefore be studied accordingly.

EMPHASIS ON UNIQUENESS

From infancy, humans are consistent in personality even though they may vary from situation to situation.

CONSISTENCY OF PERSONALITY

personality is always an organized whole that is constantly changing and growing; capacity to change; healthy people are integrated while unhealthy people fail to integrate this

organization

Dynamic organization

personality is real, not an

abstract concept; resides within your skin

Within the individual

personality is composed of mind and body functioning together as a unit; neither exclusively mental or neural but influenced by both heredity and environment

Psychophysical system

all facets of personality activate or

directs specific behaviors and thoughts

That determine

each person is unique; personality traits are highly individualized; personality is adaptable

Unique adjustments to his environment

3 APPROACHES TO PERSONALITY OF ALLPORT

1. Detailed Definition of Personality

2. Emphasis on (THE ROLE OF) Conscious Motivation

3. Psychologically Healthy Individual

Healthy adults are generally aware of what they are doing

and their reasons for doing it.

EMPHASIS ON (THE ROLE OF) CONSCIOUS MOTIVATION

2 MAIN TYPES OF TRAITS

1. COMMON TRAITS

2. PERSONAL DISPOSITIONS (individual traits)

Possessed by many people (including cultures) to a

varying extent

- How we compare to others (nomothetic research)

- Explains unique variations among people

COMMON TRAITS

- Unique to or possessed by only one person— "peculiar to

the individual"

- Unique variations within an individual (idiographic

research)

PERSONAL DISPOSITIONS

LEVELS OF PERSONAL DISPOSITION

1. CARDINAL DISPOSITION

2. CENTRAL DISPOSITION

3. SECONDARY DISPOSITION

- Responses to particular stimuli which may occur on rare

occasions.

- Traits that can come out on very special occasions.

SECONDARY DISPOSITION

Most people do not have this disposition

CARDINAL DISPOSITION

- These are the traits that your friends and close acquaintances would agree are descriptive of you.

- Characteristics which typify a person's behavior in daily

interactions.

CENTRAL DISPOSITION

Traits that dominate the personality, influencing almost

everything a person does.

CARDINAL DISPOSITION

All those behaviors and characteristics that people regard as

warm and central in their lives

PROPRIUM

What is the core of one's personhood according to Gordon Willard Allport?

PROPRIUM

PROPRIUM DEVELOPMENT WITH AGES

1. BODILY SENSE (birth to age 1)

2. SELF IDENTITY (age 1 to 2)

3. SELF ESTEEM (age 2 to 3)

4. SELF EXTENSION (age 3 to 4)

5. SELF IMAGE (age 4 to 6)

6. SELF AS RATIONAL COPER (age 6 to 12)

7. PROPRIATE STRIVING (age 12 to 20s)

8. SELF AS KNOWER (adulthood)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- Awareness of self

- Merging of all the other stages

SELF AS KNOWER (adulthood)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- What is me and what is not

- The sense of one's body, its separateness from other

bodies, and its basic parts.

BODILY SENSE (birth to age 1)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- Motivational period of who a person wants to be and wants

to become (greater influence than past)

- Involves long range goal planning etc.

- Functional autonomy begins

PROPRIATE STRIVING (age 12 to 20s)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- Learn problem solving skills, how to think rationally, and

deal with reality

SELF AS RATIONAL COPER (age 6 to 12)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- Names self

- The sense of inner sameness, of continuity to the self, and

having a distinct name.

- Depends on capacity for language

SELF IDENTITY (age 1 to 2)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- Good and bad me

- Begin to evaluate present abilities and future possibilities

- Compare what we do with others' expectations of us

o Awareness of satisfying or not satisfying parents

expectations

- Saw this as foundation of adult conscience

SELF IMAGE (age 4 to 6)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- Pride through achievement

- The sense of competence and to feel some self-control

over one's environment.

- Test the limits of our environment and often refuse to take

orders from others.

SELF ESTEEM (age 2 to 3)

What Proprium Development is this? (with age)

- Identifies "ego extensions"

- The sense of possessing external objects and/or people.

- Eventually helps produce loyalties

SELF EXTENSION (age 3 to 4)

What is this?

- Supports the reasoning that people do things simply because they like to do them.

- represents the present "go" of interest

and tendencies that initiates and sustains current behavior.

FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY

2 TYPES OF FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY

1. PERSEVERATIVE FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY

2. PROPRIATE FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY

The feedback mechanisms in the nervous system which

are rules by simple neurological principles.

PERSEVERATIVE FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY

Overtime, these mechanisms become neurologically self-

maintaining and keep the organism on track called

Habits

An individual's acquired interests, values, attitudes and

intentions.

PROPRIATE FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY

This is the main system of motivation and imparts

consistency to the individual for a congruent self-image

and a higher level of maturity and growth called

Values

CRITERIA OF A MATURE PERSONALITY

(PSYCHOLOGICALLY HEALTHY INDIVIDUAL)

1. Characterized by a proactive behavior

2. Motivated by conscious processes

3. Healthy people ordinarily have experienced a trauma-free childhood.

4. Age is not a requisite

What did approaches did Allport use in studying the personality?

Idiographic and the Nomothetic

- Study of a group of individuals and analyzes them.

- Seeks general laws

NOMOTHETIC METHOD

- The extensive study of a simple case.

- It emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual.

IDIOGRAPHIC METHOD

Allport attempted to blend nomothetic and idiographic

perspectives: he called this blend the

morphogenic approach.

Patterned properties of the whole organism

and allows for intraperson comparisons. The pattern or

structure of one's personal dispositions is important.

Morphogenic

These people live their religion and find their master motive in

their religious faith.

• Bring other needs into harmony with their religious values.

• They have an internalized creed and follow it fully.

• Items: "My religious beliefs are what really lie behind my

whole approach to life." and "I try hard to carry my religion

over into all my other dealings in life."

INTRINSIC ORIENTATION & ITEMS

A utilitarian view of religion—they see it as a means to an end.

• Self-serving religion of comfort and social convention

• Their beliefs are lightly held and easily reshaped when

convenient.

• Items: "The primary purpose of prayer is to gain relief and

protection"; "What religion offers me most is comfort when

sorrow and misfortune strike"; and "One reason for my being

a church member is that such membership helps to establish

a person in the community."

EXTRINSIC ORIENTATION & ITEMS

Psychologically healthy people have a clear view on the

purpose of life.

- Religious orientation is a crucial ingredient.

- People with a mature religious attitude and a unified

philosophy of life has a well-developed conscience and a

strong desire to love others.

a. REALISTIC PERCEPTION OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT

b. UNIFYING PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE (Religious Orientation)

c. INSIGHT AND HUMOR (Nonhostile Sense of Humor)

b. UNIFYING PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE (Religious Orientation)

Mature individuals continually seek to identify with and

participate in events outside themselves and develop

social interest in work, play, and recreation.

a. REALISTIC PERCEPTION OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT

(Acceptance of the Real World)

b. EXTENSION OF THE SENSE OF SELF (Mature People

possess Social Interest)

c. WARM RELATING OF SELF TO OTHERS (Capacity to

Love)

b. EXTENSION OF THE SENSE OF SELF (Mature People

possess Social Interest)

Psychologically healthy people know themselves better.

- No need to attribute one's weakness to others.

- Possess a nonhostile sense of humor

- See themselves objectively

a. EMOTIONAL SECURITY OR SELF-ACCEPTANCE

(Emotional Poise)

b. INSIGHT AND HUMOR (Nonhostile Sense of Humor)

c. WARM RELATING OF SELF TO OTHERS (Capacity to

Love)

b. INSIGHT AND HUMOR (Nonhostile Sense of Humor)

Individuals with mature personality have the capacity to

love in an intimate and compassionate manner.

- Not possessive and selfish

- Possess a healthy sexual attitude, and do not exploit others

for personal gratification.

a. WARM RELATING OF SELF TO OTHERS (Capacity to

Love)

b. INSIGHT AND HUMOR (Nonhostile Sense of Humor)

c. WARM RELATING OF SELF TO OTHERS (Capacity to

Love)

a. WARM RELATING OF SELF TO OTHERS (Capacity to

Love)

- Psychologically healthy people are aware that they are

living in a real world.

- Do not bend reality to fit their own wishes and do not create

a world of fantasy.

- Not self-centered

a. WARM RELATING OF SELF TO OTHERS (Capacity to

Love)

b. INSIGHT AND HUMOR (Nonhostile Sense of Humor)

c. REALISTIC PERCEPTION OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT

(Acceptance of the Real World)

c. REALISTIC PERCEPTION OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT

(Acceptance of the Real World)

Psychologically healthy people are not overly upset when

things do not go as planned.

- Recognize the fact that frustrations and inconveniences

are part of living.

a. EMOTIONAL SECURITY OR SELF-ACCEPTANCE

(Emotional Poise)

b. UNIFYING PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE (Religious Orientation)

c. INSIGHT AND HUMOR (Nonhostile Sense of Humor)

a. EMOTIONAL SECURITY OR SELF-ACCEPTANCE

(Emotional Poise)