1. Individual Psychology and Motivation
Allport
Chapter 12

2. Gordon Allport

3. Outline Overview of the psychology of the individual
Biography of Gordon Allport
Allport’s approach to personality theory
Structure of personality
Motivation & Functional Autonomy
Related Research
Tips for Finishing Your Case Studies

4. Overview of the Psychology of the Individual
Emphasized uniqueness of the individual
Traits do not capture individuality, so objected to such oversimplifications from focusing only on traits and factors
Studied the individual (morphogenic science) in contrast to nomothetic methods (that gather data on groups of people)
Believed that broad, comprehensive theory is preferable to narrow theory (e.g., trying to explain patterns of characteristics within individuals is more insightful than focusing on levels of one specific narrow trait among groups)

5. Biography of Allport Born in Montezuma, Indiana in 1897
Youngest son of a country doctor and a former schoolteacher
Earned undergraduate degrees in philosophy and economics from Harvard in 1919
After fortuitous meeting with Freud (remember the story about boy and dirt phobia?), decided to complete a PhD in psychology at Harvard in 1922
President of American Psychological Association in 1939 (approximately 7 years before Rogers was president)
Taught at Harvard for most of his career (with four early years spent at Dartmouth)
Died in 1967 of lung cancer

6. Allport’s Approach to Personality Theory
Sought to answer three questions:
What Is Personality?
“the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic behavior and thought” (Allport, 1937 & 1961)
Personality is both physical and psychological
Includes both overt and covert thoughts and behaviors
Not only is something but does something
Is unique and individual
Exhibits both substance and change
Humans are both product and process-- has structure but also capacity for growth

7. Allport’s Approach to Personality Theory
What is the role of conscious motivation?
Healthy adults are aware of what they are doing and why
Accepted self-report at face value
Some motivation is driven by hidden impulses
Most compulsive behaviors originate in childhood and are automatic, repetitive and self-defeating

8. Allport’s Approach to Personality Theory
What are the characteristics of a healthy person?
General characteristics:
Proactive behavior: action instead of only reaction
Consciously motivated (aware of motives)
Usually experienced relatively trauma-free childhoods

9. Allport’s Approach to Personality Theory
Characteristics of healthy people (cont’d)
Six criteria for maturity:
Extension of the sense of self– participate in outside events, display unselfish interests
Warm relating of self to others– treat others with respect, and recognize their needs, desires, and hopes
Emotional security or self-acceptance
Realistic perception of their environment (not defensive) with problem-solving skills
Insight and humor– have no need to blame their mistakes and weaknesses on others, have non-hostile sense of humor
Unifying philosophy of life– have clear view of purpose in life; often have a well-developed conscience and a strong desire to serve others
Some useful flashcards for Allport:

10. Structure of Personality
Refers to Basic Units
Personal Dispositions
Levels of Personal Dispositions– those displayed frequently and across a range of situations are likely to be at least central
Cardinal dispositions– some people have a single characteristic that dominates their lives
Central dispositions– most people have 5-10 of these important characteristics
Secondary dispositions– we have many of these that occur regularly, but are not so central

11. Structure of Personality
Proprium
Behaviors that are regarded as warm, central, and important to their lives– a central core to personality
Includes a person’s values and his/her personal conscience (based on his/her adult beliefs)
Those aspects that are important to one’s self-identity and self-enhancement

12. Structure of Personality
Traits, States, and Activities (Allport & Odbert, 1936)– were distinguished by consistency and variability with traits being most consistent and stable
Hypothesized that traits are based in the nervous system, but that traits interacted with situations to influence behavior
Identified three properties of traits: frequency, intensity, range of situations
Primarily used an idiographic approach (unstructured exploration of an individual’s personality; within-person research rather than between-persons) to explore personality

13. Motivation A Theory of Motivation
Must include both reactive and proactive behaviors
Peripheral motives are those that reduce a need
Propriate strivings seek to maintain tension and equilibrium
Maintaining tension can mean increasing tension or drive to achieve goals, for example

14. Functional Autonomy
Functional Autonomy– motives may have started as tension reduction in childhood, but adults achieve independence from these motives and find pleasure and intrinsic motivation in the behaviors– they are incorporated into self-image
Consider
Cleaning your room
Yard work
Washing dishes
Morning/evening washing/tooth-brushing routine
Playing piano
Prayer, introspection
Academic learning
Attending cultural events
Travel– Sunday drives, trips with the family
You may have begun these to avoid negative consequences or to please others, but now you might enjoy some of these activities
The idea that drives can become independent of the original motives for a given behavior is known as "functional autonomy."
Allport gives the example of a man who seeks to perfect his task or craft. His original motive may be a sense of inferiority engrained in his childhood, but his diligence in his work and the motive it acquires later on is a need to excel in his chosen profession, which becomes the man's drive. Allport says that the theory "avoids the absurdity of regarding the energy of life now, in the present, as somehow consisting of early archaic forms (instincts, prepotent reflexes, or the never-changing Id). Learning brings new systems of interests into existence just as it does new abilities and skills. At each stage of development these interests are always contemporary; whatever drives, drives now."[8] Another example of functional autonomy is when the original motive of making money to buy goods becomes a drive, in which making money becomes an end in itself. Functional autonomy is also thought to underlie obsessions and compulsions

15. Related Research
The Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) breaks religious beliefs and practice into those resulting from
Extrinsic orientation (as a means to an end reward)
Intrinsic orientation (as internalized values that they fully believe in and follow)
Religion, prayer, and health
Powell et al. (2003)
Attending church regularly is associated with feeling better and living longer
Masters et al. (2005)
Religion and cardiovascular health
Intrinsic religious orientation serves as a buffer against everyday life stressors
Smith et al. (2003)
Religion and depression
Intrinsic religious orientation is negatively related, and extrinsic orientation positively related, to depression

16. Related Research How to reduce prejudice: Optimal contact
Optimal contact conditions
Equal status between groups
Common goals
Cooperation between groups
Support of an authority figure, law, goal, etc.
Pettigrew & Tropp (2005, 2009) Pettigrew et al., 2011
Optimal contact reduces prejudice-- toward races, but also toward the elderly, mentally ill, disabled, and gay and lesbian individuals

17. Next slides: Costa & McCrae (Five Factor Theory)
This Week
We learned about a key early figure that leads into trait theory, but who preferred to take an individual approach to personality: Gordon Allport
Criteria for maturity
Proactive behavior
Cardinal, Central, and Secondary Dispositions
Proprium
Properties of traits
Functional autonomy
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic religious orientation
Next slides: Costa & McCrae (Five Factor Theory)