Chapter 12: Psychology of the Individual (Allport)

Question 1

More than any other personality theorist, Gordon Allport emphasized the _____ of the individual.

Answer 1

uniqueness

Question 2

He called the study of the individual _____ science and contrasted it with the nomothetic methods used by most other psychologists.

Answer 2

morphogenic

Question 3

_____ methods are those that gather data on a single individual, whereas nomothetic methods gather data on groups of people.

Answer 3

Morphogenic

Question 4

Allport also advocated an _____ approach to theory building. He accepted some of the contributions of Freud, Maslow, Rogers, Eysenck, Skinner, and others; but he believed that no one of these theorists is able to adequately explain the total growing and unique personality.

Answer 4

eclectic

Question 5

He then offered a 50th definition, which in 1937 was “the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment”.

In 1961, he had changed the last phrase to read “that determine his characteristic behavior and thought

Answer 5

Personality

Question 6

Healthy adults are generally aware of what they are doing and their reasons for doing it.

Answer 6

Role of Conscious Motivation

Question 7

However, _____ did not ignore the existence or even the importance of unconscious processes.

Answer 7

Allport

Question 8

1. Characterized by proactive behavior; that is, they not only react to external stimuli, but they are capable of consciously acting on their environment in new and innovative ways and causing their environment to react to them.
2. Motivated by conscious processes, which allow them to be more flexible and autonomous than unhealthy people, who remain dominated by unconscious motives that spring from childhood experiences.
3. Experienced a relatively trauma-free childhood. Psychologically healthy individuals are not without the foibles and idiosyncrasies that make them unique. Also, age is not a requisite for maturity, although healthy persons seem to become more mature as they get older.

Answer 8

3 Assumptions Mature Personality

Question 9

1. Extension of the sense of self - participate outside
2. Warm relating of self to others - love, respect
3. Emotional security or self-acceptance - not exagg emotion
4. Realistic perception of their environment - problem oriented
5. Insight and humor - no pretend, they know no perfect
6. Unifying philosophy of life - clear purpose

Answer 9

6 Criteria for the Mature Personality

Question 10

To Freud, the basic units were instincts; to Eysenck, they were mathematically determined factors.

To Allport, the most important structures are those that permit the description of the person in terms of individual characteristics, and he called these individual characteristics _____.

Answer 10

Personal dispositions = ugali, personalized

Common Traits = General

Question 11

“A generalized neuropsychic structure (peculiar to the individual), with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent (equivalent) forms of adaptive and stylistic behavior”.

Answer 11

personal dispositions = ugali, personalized

Common Traits = General

Question 12

_____ are general characteristics held in common by many people. They can be inferred from factor analytic studies such as those conducted by Eysenck and the authors of the Five-Factor Theory, or they can be revealed by various personality inventories. _____ provide the means by which people within a given culture can be compared to one another.

Answer 12

Common Traits

Question 13

To identify personal dispositions, Allport and Henry Odbert counted nearly 18,000 (_____, to be exact) personally descriptive words in the 1925 edition of Webster’s New International Dictionary, about a fourth of which described personality characteristics.

Answer 13

17,953

Question 14

1. Cardinal Dispositions - obvious, sociable (isa lang disposition nag dodominate lifetime, narcissus)
2. Central Dispositions - 5 to 10 most outstanding characteristics (how you define yourself, style, traits) friends, and close acquaintances would agree are descriptive of that person.
3. Secondary Dispositions - less conspicuous but far greater in number, anxiety, shyness (sometimes unaware)

Answer 14

Levels of Personal Dispositions (Parang hierarchy)

Question 15

Allport called these intensely experienced dispositions motivational dispositions. Ex: eating

Answer 15

Motivational Dispositions

Question 16

Allport referred to personal dispositions that are less intensely experienced as _____. Ex: attire, dress, politeness habang kumakain

Answer 16

Stylistic Dispositions

Question 17

Stylistic dispositions _____ action, whereas motivational dispositions _____ action.

Answer 17

guide, initiate

Question 18

Motivational dispositions are somewhat similar to _____ concept of coping behavior, whereas stylistic dispositions are similar to _____ idea of expressive behavior.

Answer 18

Maslow’s

Question 19

Refer to those behaviors and characteristics that people regard as warm, central, and important in their lives, close to the core of personality, an important part of self, “peculiarly mine”

parang sense of self, “ako yan”, grupo of being me vs. central disposition, individual

Answer 19

Proprium

Question 20

“Peripheral motives” are those that reduce a need (kain pag gutom, homeostasis), whereas “propriate” strivings seek to maintain tension and disequilibrium

Answer 20

Types of Motivation

Question 21

Many older theories of personality, Allport believed, did not allow for possibilities of growth. Psychoanalysis and the various learning theories are basically homeostatic, or reactive, theories because they see people as being motivated primarily by needs to reduce tension and to return to a state of equilibrium.

Answer 21

Theory of Motivation

Question 22

An adequate theory of personality, Allport contended, must allow for proactive behavior. It must view people as consciously acting on their environment in a manner that permits growth toward psychological health.

Answer 22

Theory of Motivation

Question 23

Motivation: Allport’s concept of _____ proposes that the motives of mature, emotionally healthy adults are not functionally connected to the prior experiences in which they initially appeared.

It is obvious that the tree’s development can be traced to its seed. Yet when the tree is fully grown, the seed is no longer required as a source of.

Ginagawa natin yu’ng mga bagay just because, walang kinalaman childhood sa pagbili ng aircon kasi mainit ngayon

Answer 23

The Functional Autonomy of Motives

Question 24

_____ Functional Autonomy, the more elementary level, is concerned with such behaviors as addictions and repetitive physical actions such as habitual ways of performing some everyday task.

We just do it for fun, nakasanayan lang. shat para makalimutan ex, pero kahit naka move on na shat shat pa rin

Answer 24

Perseverative

Question 25

What is personality?

What is the role of conscious motivation in personality theory?

What are the characteristics of a psychologically healthy individual?

Answer 25

3 questions Allports wanted to answer.

Question 26

The master system of motivation that confers unity on personality is propriate functional autonomy, which refers to those self-sustaining motives that are related to the proprium.

Ex: nag teacher ako kasi need ko magbayad ng tuition fee, pero i fell in love with teaching, nagkaron ng passion

Answer 26

Propriate Functional Autonomy

Question 27

Theory of Motivation: People just want to maintain homeostasis and no room for growth.

(mainit, magpapahinga like other animals)

Answer 27

Reactive Behavior

Question 28

Theory of Motivation: People as consciously acting on their environment in a manner that permits growth toward psychological health.

(mainit, bibili ng aircon, humans) it’s like environment ang mag-aadjust

Answer 28

Proactive Behavior

Question 29

Refers to patterned properties of the whole organism and allows intraperson comparisons.

Because idiographic is confusing for most people.

iba iba ng extroversion kasi iba iba ways, such as intelligence. You can do this thru diaries

Answer 29

Morphogenic Science