Critique on Gordon Allport (Theories of Personality)

Gordon Allport- speculation re aspect PSY201 Boitumelo Chantelle Mangope ? Introduction Gordon Allport was truly a phenomenal soulality theoretician who explained what a personality is and he bent most of the rules that were set off by other theorists including the father of personality himself, Sigmund Freud and in addition to that, he considered Freuds surmise of personality as the worst possibleness of all time. The Life of Gordon Allport Gordon Allport was the first Ameri toilet-born personality theorist and hailed from the state of Indiana, Montezuma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/allport-1.jpg alt=allport criticized h adeptst-to-goodness theories of personality for width=340 height=322 /He was born on 11 November 1897 and died a month before his s regular(a)tieth birthday (9 October 1967) due to lung cancer. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts, (majoring in Economics and Philosophy), Masters of Art in 1921 and a PhD (all three at Harvard University) at the tender age of 24. A fter he completed his degree, he took a gap year and taught English and Sociology at a university in Istanbul, Turkey. Gordon was lucky to keep fulfiled an sense with Sigmund Freud for when he was returning choke off to the U.S to start off fellowship to do graduate work in psychological science at Harvard, he stopped off at Vienna to visit maven of his brothers and wrote to Freud (who was set on that prognosticate) a letter asking for permission to visit him. The permission was granted and he explained there encounter as an unsuccessful on. He told Freud a story of whereby he met a young boy in a tram car ride who had a dirt phobia and he frantically told his return non to let a dirty piece of music sit next to him. Freud then went on to allude that the little boy was Allport and this ca intentiond a misunderstanding between them.This event lead to Allport having to probe further into psychology and the elements of personality beca theatrical role he felt that depth psy chology overlooked the primal truths. He developed a theory that ignored the unconscious and that was not scientifically-based thus, stating that in order for nonp atomic number 18il to learn about an or so unmatched, they have to be studied and not base the persons personality on their unconscious motives nor on a study that was based on a concourse of multitude and an average which determined that groups personality was found. During his charge, he held many prestigious positions and received many honors.Firstly, he served as the chair of the American Psychological Association (1939) and withal president of the Eastern Psychological Association (1943). He was similarly the editor of the Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology (1937-1949) and in 1964, he received the APAs Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology. In addition to that, he received another award, i. e. APAs Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award (1964) and as if that wasnt enoug h, he was the first lecturer to inculcate the first course on psychology (the course was dubbed Personality Its Psychological & Social Aspects) eer offered in the United States.Work Gordon Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of personality, and is often referred to as one of the fathers of personality. He believed that ones personality could not be determined from the support of science and rather, by thoroughly studying an unmarried. He defined personality as the dynamic organization inwardly an one-on-one of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique ad mediocrements to his environment Allport was a feature theorist who believed that ones personality was do up from different attributes (i. . mental structures which initiate and guide reactions and thus ultimately accounts for the consistency in ones look) and those traits were organized accordingly. To further support this, he said that those traits arise within a prone situat ion e. g. if one has a trait of being aggressive, that trait will be suppressed until the pick up for it to be exposed to a situation due to a stimulus (e. g. during a quarrel). He jilted the behavioral (which he thought was too deep) and gentlemans gentlemanistic (which he thought wasnt deep enough) approaches.He emphatic on the uniqueness of each various(prenominal) and the importance of the exemplify, as opposed to his/her history, for understanding their personality. From that logical argument alone, it is overt that Allport was optimistic towards human nature for he further on went to say that there atomic number 18 individual traits, i. e. a unique pattern of traits which ar feature by an individual, and common traits, i. e. traits which argon purposed to suck up a group of individuals. One can clearly see that Allport was for human nature and uniqueness and appreciated that each individual had their protest pattern of traits which could not be exactly the same a s anyone else.He overly went on to say that individuals be motivated by present motives and not passed motives and called this supposition, the Functional Autonomy. Major concepts of Gordon Allport Gordon Allport deduced that there are different types of traits being individual traits and common traits. As mentioned earlier, individual traits are those traits which are possessed by a certain individual and common traits are those traits which are shared by some(prenominal) individuals. Allport believed that in order for a personality theorist to succeed in studying an individual, they (the theorist) should focus on the individual traits and not the common traits. Those individual traits are actually a cluster of traits and not just one trait. For example, a pattern of traits which I possess are the humanitarian trait, talkative trait, friendliness trait and many more. This pattern is unique to me for it is rare for any other individual to possess it. Gordon Allport believed in apply the idiographic method of question and not the nomothetic method of research because, with an idiographic method, a theorist or analyst uses a single case by means of intensively studying an individual whereas with a nomothetic method, one studies a group of individuals and deduces an average (i. . traits/ personality) for that group. Allport then went on to identify three types of individual traits (which he later called personal disposition). These were cardinal, central and secondary dispositions/traits. i. Cardinal Trait This trait is the one which dominates an individual and it shapes an individuals behavior and becomes the dominating theme within a person. An example would be of induce Theresa, the dominant theme which ran doneout her life was a humanistic theme. It is rare for most people to privation a single theme that shapes their lives. ii. Central traitsThese traits are global characteristics which are found in some degree in every person. These are the b asic building blocks that shape up most of our behavior although they are not as dominant as cardinal traits. An example would be a trait of honesty. iii. Secondary traits Secondary traits are similar to habits or attitudes but are still more general than either. They must be included in order to provide a complete picture of human complexity. An example would be the types of c dress circlehes or food that an individual prefers. Aspects of Gordon Allports theory that I want The same fire that softens the butter hardens the egg.That statement caught my attention when I read it and I went back to read the concept that was supported by it over and over once more until I really equate with it. The concept which supported that saying was Gordons concept of trait were he says that since no two people possess the same pattern of traits and that traits respond to an environmental situation (i. e. they are not al shipway present until the need for them arises), if a single stimulus was to be administered to two different people, they would reacted differently to that stimulus. I cudgel with this concept for this always happens to me.My best friend and I respond differently to stimuli. For example, I once make her buy my favourite ice-cream (because she didnt know which one to buy) and she ABSOLUTELY hated it This goes to show that Allport did in particular appreciate the fact that individuals are different, thus you cannot say that people who had horrible childhoods will turn out as X, Y and Z. I also favoured the Letters from Jenny Concept were Allport believes that one of the best methods to use in order to study an individual is to use personal documents such as diaries, autobiographies and letters.I also mortify with this for most females always write down their feelings through diaries. This has been told to us that it helps us relieve the pain or the stress and if a psychologist was to use ones diary to determine the traits which that person possesses. Ther e is a consistency which can be picked from a persons daily entrants that are within their diary. Aspects of Gordon Allports theory which I did not like Within Allports theory, there is a part whereby he talks about a healthy mature bountiful and an blebby (neurotic) adult.The difference between a healthy and a neurotic person is that is that the motives of an unhealthy person lie in the past whereas the motives of a healthy person lie in the future. I agree with that statement but I did not conquered with him where he mentions that one can swinging back and forth from being an unhealthy to healthy person and back to an unhealthy person (its a cycle). According to him, the characteristics of a healthy person are similar to those who have self-actualized (through Abraham Maslows theory of motivation) and Maslow states that in order for one to self-actualize, they need to go through a series of stages.So, the question here is that can a man go through important steps which help him build him up then instantly dilapidate and return back to an unhealthy state? Concepts that I would use in my personal theory For my personal theory, I would definitely use the Allports concept of trait (whereby he mentions that a stimulus is reacted differently to different people) because it is a concept which is very practical and one goes through it on a daily.Secondly, I would use his components of personality statement whereby he states that personality is constantly (Dynamic Organization) changing. This is evident for I believe that ones personality cannot be determined whilst they are within their first five years (unlike Sigmund Freud) because that individual is going to go through many trials and tribulations which will influence the person to ensure that they do not step into the same river again thus, they will change to a certain degree to ensure that they do not go through that again.For example, if a naive 17 year old girl has a trait of promiscuity and during her pri me time, she gets raped by individual who is totally unexpected two weeks before her BGSE exams, she WILL change her ways of living to ensure that she never has to go through that ordeal again. Personal Critique I believed that this theory is researchable qualitatively because it stresses on how one cannot use nomothetic methods of research and should instead, use the idiographic method of research because it involves an intense study for a single case.There are a lot of cases whereby one can do their own primary research to determine whether Allports guidelines are in line. Also, there is a lot of secondary data which is available online and even at the library which deal with Allports theory. However, there are a lot of people who have criticized Allports work by saying that it is impossible for one to ignore the fact that scientific research needs to be done in order for ones personality to be analyzed and assessed.This leaves a lot of field to do further investigations for some one who is interested in finding out whether Allports work is feasible by testing his concepts and also taking into consideration everything that the critics have said and ultimately, determining their one findings. I also believe that this theory is of clinical utility because as the saying goes, your past does not determine you future.There are patients who are not naturally expressive of how their past was shaped up (maybe because they may be too disconcert to voice it out) thus, a clinical psychologist could use any personal documents of the patient to try and determine problems which cannot be voiced out. Also, a clinical psychologist will be able to understand the pattern of traits that their patient has by probing on the matter of knowing what their motives are and ultimately, determine whether they are a healthy adult who is future driven and doesnt base his/her motives on the past (as of an unhealthy person).However, this theory will not ensure consistence because if three clinical psychologists were to analyze one patient, each of them will have a different analysis because they will all have their own opinions thus, they might not all agree on whether the individual is a healthy adult or not. This theory is highly applicable within Botswanas conclusion for Batswana are undefended people who are looking for ways in which they can better their futures. Therefore, the healthy and unhealthy concept would work greatly within our land.As a matter of a fact, the theory as a whole would experience high and positive agglutination within Botswana. In order for one to understand the nature of Botswanas culture, one has to look at it from the following point of view. The culture of Botswana may be looked in two aspects. The older generation practices enculturation* whereby they stand firm on the Tswana morals and beliefs and practice them on a regular, for example, the patlo, kgotla meetings & letlhafula events. The younger generation practices acculturat ion* whereby they are receptive towards other cultures and eventually practice them for example, following he pop culture of piercing on every part of ones body and wearing baggy (men and lesbians) and skimpy clothes (females and gays) and the culture of food (Western, Oriental, Italian and Vegetarian). If Allports theory was to be practiced within Botswana, it would have to be amongst the receptive group of Batswana who are willing and able to share their future goals (i. e. motives) and allow a psychologist to take a look at their personal documents and this is likely to be the younger generation.This theory is unique in its own way for it truly emphasizes on not using scientific methods when analyzing ones personality thus most theories are not like it. However, since Allport was a trait theorist, it can be noted that he wasnt the and trait theorist. Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysneck were also trait theorists who believed that one possesses a lot of traits. However, they used nom othetic methods of research thus, their beliefs were not the same as Allports theory. Allports theory does not emphasize on the development of personality at the expense of another.He focuses on personality as a whole and gives a holistic view of it. Since he did not conduct nomothetic research or scientific research, he could not use the backing of those research methods to determine whether when one aspect grows, another suffers on its account. Gordon Allport was truly a man who stood by his word no matter who criticized his work and he backed his concepts with relevant research that even a lame man would understand. He is one of my favorite personality theorists and I believe that his theory is applicable to my life.