Critique on Gordon Allport (Theories of Personality)

Gordon Allport- guess review PSY201 Boitumelo Chantelle Mangope ? grounding Gordon Allport was truly a phenomenal record theorist who explained what a some unrivaledality is and he bent around of the rules that were set out by some other theorists including the father of psycheality himself, Sigmund Freud and in addition to that, he considered Freuds supposition of face-to-faceity as the worst conjecture of each(prenominal) time. The Life of Gordon Allport Gordon Allport was the branch American-born soulfulnessality theorist and hailed from the state of Indiana, Montezuma.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/allport-1.jpg alt=allport criticized grayer theories of ad hominemity for comprehensiveness=340 height=322 /He was born on 11 November 1897 and died a month beforehand his 70th 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. After he completed his degree, he took a gap year and taught English and Sociology at a university in Istanbul, Turkey. Gordon was lucky to have encountered an experience with Sigmund Freud for when he was tax returning back to the U.S to rifle off fellowship to do graduate work in psychological science at Harvard, he stopped off at Vienna to repri worldd integrity of his brothers and wrote to Freud (who was situated thither) a letter asking for permission to claver 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 shit phobia and he frantically told his mother non to let a dirty man sit next to him. Freud then went on to insinuate that the little boy was Allport and this ca go ford a mis fancying between them.This event organize to Allport having to probe further into psychology and the elements of disposition because he felt that g et alongledge psychology oerlooked the important truths. He developed a theory that ignored the unconscious and that was non scientifically-based thus, stating that in tack together for unmatched to view about an unmarried, they have to be studied and not base the persons personality on their unconscious motives nor on a call for that was based on a group of mint and an average which stubborn that groups personality was found. During his prime, he held m whatsoever prestigious positions and true m all(prenominal) honors.Firstly, he served as the President of the American Psychological standstill (1939) and as well 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 heroic Contributions to Psychology. In addition to that, he received another award, i. e. APAs distinguish Scientific Contribution Award (1964) and as if th at wasnt enough, he was the counterbalance lecturer to teach the first line of credit on psychology (the course was dubbed Personality Its Psychological & Social Aspects) ever offered in the get together 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 desexualized from the support of science and rather, by means of thoroughly studying an respective(prenominal). He defined personality as the dynamic organization at heart an separate of those psychophysical systems that jog his unique adjustments to his environment Allport was a singularity theorist who believed that ones personality was made up from different traces (i. . mental structures which give instruction and guide reactions and thus ultimately accounts for the consistency in ones behavior) and those traits were organized accordingly. To further support this, he said that those traits arise within a given smudge e. g. if one has a trait of creation aggressive, that trait go out be suppressed until the need for it to be candid to a situation due to a stimulus (e. g. during a quarrel). He rejected the behavioral (which he thought was too deep) and humanistic (which he thought wasnt deep enough) approaches.He emphasized on the uniqueness of each individual and the importance of the present, as opposed to his/her history, for understanding their personality. From that statement alone, it is clearly that Allport was optimistic towards human reputation for he further on went to secernate that there argon individual traits, i. e. a unique pattern of traits which ar possessed by an individual, and common traits, i. e. traits which ar used to describe a group of individuals. One can clearly see that Allport was for human nature and uniqueness and calculated that each individual had their aver pattern of traits which could not b e exactly the very(prenominal) as anyone else.He to a fault went on to regulate that individuals atomic number 18 motivated by present motives and not passed motives and called this creation, 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 original individual and common traits are those traits which are shared by some(prenominal) individuals. Allport believed that in ramble 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, newsy trait, friendliness trait and many more. This pattern is unique to me for it is rare for any ot her individual to possess it. Gordon Allport believed in using the idiographic mode of investigate and not the nomothetic method of research because, with an idiographic method, a theorist or analyst uses a unity case through 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 key, central and secondary coil dispositions/traits. i. Cardinal distinction This trait is the one which dominates an individual and it shapes an individuals behavior and becomes the imposing theme within a person. An example would be of Mother Theresa, the predominant theme which ran throughout her life was a humanistic theme. It is rare for intimately people to lack a single theme that shapes their lives. ii. Central traitsThese traits are universal characteristi cs which are found in some degree in every person. These are the basic 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 granthes or food that an individual prefers. Aspects of Gordon Allports theory that I ilkd The same fire that softens the butter hardens the egg.That statement caught my attention when I choose it and I went back to read the concept that was support by it over and over again until I really agreed with it. The concept which supported that face was Gordons concept of trait were he says that since no 2 people possess the same pattern of traits and that traits respond to an environmental situation (i. e. they are not always present until the ne ed for them arises), if a single stimulus was to be administered to two different people, they would reacted differently to that stimulus. I keep down with this concept for this always happens to me.My best friend and I respond differently to stimuli. For example, I once made 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 accompaniment appreciate the fact that individuals are different, thus you cannot say that people who had horrible childhoods give turn out as X, Y and Z. I also favoured the garner 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 conquer 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 happen the traits which that person possesses. There is a consistency which can be picked from a persons everyday 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 dialog about a water-loving mature adult and an dropsical (neurotic) adult.The contrariety 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 day. I agree with that statement but I did not conquered with him where he mentions that one can swinging back and frontwards 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, th e question here is that can a man go through important move 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 forever and a day (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 smorgasbord to a certain degree to ensure that they do not go through that ag ain.For example, if a naive 17 year old girl has a trait of promiscuity and during her prime time, she gets raped by someone 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 trial by 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 deal 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 persona lity to be analyzed and assessed.This leaves a lot of field to do further investigations for someone 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 longanimouss who are not naturally expressive of how their past was shaped up (maybe because they may be too embarrassed 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 occasion 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 exceedingly applicable within Botswanas tillage for Batswana are open 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 up 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 extension practices enculturation* whereby they stand strong on the Tswana morals and beliefs and practice them on a regular , for example, the patlo, kgotla meetings & letlhafula events. The younger generation practices acculturation* whereby they are receptive towards other cultures and eventually practice them for example, following he pop culture of piercing on every part of ones proboscis 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 only trait theorist. Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysneck were also trait theorists who believed that one possesses a lot of traits. However, they used nomothetic 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 disbursal 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 sanction 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.