Gordon Allport

Question 1

Challenges to Freud

Answer 1

• Rejected roll of unconscious in healthy adults (only important for neurotic and disturbed)
• Emotionally healthy = rational & conscious
• Guided more by present/future than past
• opposed collecting data from abnormal personalities

Question 2

Life of Allport

Answer 2

• Isolated and rejected by 3 brothers & peers
• Inferiority feelings - strive to excel
• Competition with older brother (followed him to Harvard - psych)
• Threatened his individuality, to refute identification with brother he declared adult motives separate from childhood - functional autonomy

Question 3

Nature of Personality

Answer 3

Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine behaviour and thought

Question 4

Dynamic Organization

Answer 4

Growth of personality is organized not random

Question 5

Psychophysical

Answer 5

Mind and body functioning together as a unit, neither all mental nor all biological

Question 6

Heredity and Environment

Answer 6

Heredity provides raw materials, is shaped by environmental conditions

Genetics and learning interact to form personality
Genetic variability = uniqueness

Question 7

Two Personalities

Answer 7

Childhood: primitive biological urges

Adulthood: psychological

Discrete discontinuous nature of personality

Question 8

Personality Traits

Answer 8

Predisposition to respond in similar manner to different stimuli - consistent and enduring ways of reacting

Question 9

Characteristics

Answer 9

• Real & existent w/in each person
• Determine of cause behaviour (interact w environment to produce behaviour)
• can be demonstrated empirically, observing
• Interrelated with other traits
• Vary with situation

Question 10

Personal Dispositions

Answer 10

Relabeled common traits as traits and individuals traits as personal dispositions
-3 kinds

Question 11

Cardinal Traits

Answer 11

• Pervasive and powerful traits
• A ruling passion
• Not everyone

Question 12

Secondary Traits

Answer 12

• Least important
• Displayed inconspicuously and inconsistently
• Only a close person would notice

Question 13

Central Traits

Answer 13

• Outstanding traits
• Describe ones behaviour
• 5 to 10 themes

Question 14

Functional Autonomy of Motives

Answer 14

Motives in normal, mature adults are independent of childhood
- adults motives cannot be understood by exploring childhood, but by investigating why people do what they do now

Question 15

Preservative Functional Autonomy

Answer 15

• Level of FA that relates to low level & routine behaviours
• behaviours continue on their own without external rewards
• routines, habits, addictions

Question 16

Proprium

Answer 16

• ego of self
• unique
• ego determines which motives are maintained or discarded
• retain motives that enhance self esteem
• direct relationship w interests and abilities

Question 17

Organizing Process Maintains Self Image

Answer 17

• Determines how we perceive the world (remember, direct thoughts)
• Choose from mass of environmental stimuli relevances to interests & values
• 3 principles

Question 18

Organizing Energy Level

Answer 18

How we acquire new motives out of necessity to help consume excess energy

Question 19

Mastery and Competence

Answer 19

Motivation to perform better & more efficient, master new skills and increase competency

Question 20

Propriate Patterning

Answer 20

Striving for consistency and integration of the personality

We organize our perceptual and cognitive processes around the see, keeping what enhances self image

Question 21

Development of the Proprium

Answer 21

• Aspects that unite attitudes, perceptions and intentions
• Before proprium, infants experience no self consciousness
• automatic and reflective reactions w no ego
• Parent child reactions are important - determines positive growth (mature) or frustrated growth (neurotic)

Question 22

Healthy Adult Personality

Answer 22

Biologically dominated in infancy to mature psychological organism
-Motivation separated from childhood, oriented to future self

Question 23

Personal Document Technique

Answer 23

Examine diaries, autobiographies, letters, etc,

determine the number and kind of traits

Question 24

Identified traits and reduced them to common categories

Answer 24

-words: expressing anger, rage, etc. can be coded as constituting the trait of aggression

Question 25

Study of Values

Answer 25

Personal values are basis of unifying philosophy of life
Everyone posses some of each value, 1-2 will be prominent

Theoretical values: truth, empirical, intellectual rational

Economic: useful, practical

Aesthetic: artistic experiences, form, harmony, grace

Social: human relationships, altruism, philanthropy

Question 26

Criticism

Answer 26

• Little research to test propositions
• Terms difficult to study
• FA: not clear how an original motive becomes autonomous
• difficult to generalize