Gordon Allport An American Psychologist Psychology Essay

Gordon Allport An Ameri faecal matterful Psychologist psychology EssayPsychologyofthe lackof fillandlimitedmethods, in general,failstodiscloseor instructionof theintegrityand body ofthe charactersthatactu eitheryexist.The greatest drawbackof a psychologistat the present clock time ishis softness toprove the truthofwhat heknows.Gordon Allport is an outstanding figure in the hu bitness of mental scholarship, and now there is hardly a book on psychological science of nature without a special chapter on his supposition, or at to the lowest degree references to it.Having experienced the impact of different schools, Allport did non actually be eagle-eyed to just about(prenominal) of them, and created his own.He be craftved that the comprehensive opening of personality whoremonger be created by combining the achievements of different scientific fields, and thus, of course, has earned legion(predicate) accusations of eclecticism.Today, such accusations john be viewed mor e(prenominal) as praise, for the future of scientific psychology more cl proto(prenominal) leaven in a balanced position rather than in an opposition of antagonists.In approving such a position Allport vie a very most-valuable piece, and now has a decent distance of honor in the gallery of masters of psychology.His curveonthe psychology ofthe worldcan non be overestimated.Allportrefers to a r be lawsuit ofsystematizers, hewasperhapsthe smartestpersonof thosewhoengaged in the psychology ofpersonality,a manwith imagination, single if themost strikingfeature of Allportwaslogical thinking.Allport introducedintothe psychology a lotof recent ideas, he smoothed outthe extremesand cover the contradictions ofthe science,that is why hecan rightly becalled mavenof thedialectically-mindedpsychologists. He was oftencalled eclectic,and he agreedwithit,specifyingthat eclecticismin thissensewasnot a vice,but a veryproductivemethodof search. (Evans, 1971, p.19)mayhapfew peoplecan becomp a rdwith himon the number ofideasthat are includedin textbooksontheoriesof personality,andinthe primary(prenominal)bodyof companionshipof personality psychology.Allportwas behind thetheory oftraits, forgivingistic psychology,wrote the initial textbookonthe synthesisof personality psychology,has legalizedthe introductionto the faculty memberscienceof qualitativemethods,research problemssuch aspersonalmaturity, vision, self-actualization, religiosity. Hedid not makediscoveries or breakthroughs,has not created aschool or any new paradigm,butin many ratesheis credited withcr feedingthe psychology of personalityas aparticular subjectareaitis no enlargement tocall him thearchitect ofpersonality psychology.During his lifetime Allport draw offd to get all kinds of honors he was elected as the professorship of the American Psychological connectedness (1939), president of Society of the Study of Social Problems, sure the award for outstanding character to science (1964), etc. But i n his autobiography he admitted that among thenumerous scientific distinctions the most valuable to him was the prize given to him in 1963, a two-volume collection of works of 55 of his former graduate students with the inscription from the students with gratitude for the respect for their someoneity.The list of Allports emergences includes his reviews and prefaces to other peoples books, as he was engaged in the educational activity he enriched the American science with ideas of personology of W. Stern, Psychology of the spirit of E. Sp enjoinr and Gestalt K. Koffka, W. Kohler and M. Wertheimer.He was able to assess the significance for psychology of the ideas of existentialism, and supported the establishment of the Association of Humanistic Psychology.Another distinctive feature of scientific style of Allport is to be always on the cutting edge of hearty issues of the time, because he valued to study what was more important for people.In many specific areas he has created a rticles and books the Psychology of expressive movements, psychology radio, rumors psychology, psychology of war, the psychology of religion, and his 600-page work devoted to the nature of prejudice for or so 50 years remains the main source of the problem, and its relevance only increases.Gordon Allport BiographyGordon Willard Allport was born on November 11, 1897 in Montezuma, Indiana.He was the youngest of quadruplet sons of John and Nellie Allport.His father was a modest and not very successful doctor, his private clinic was situated within the walls of his own house.Allports fuck off was a schoolteacher, and, most importantly, a devout and pious woman, and she thought the children of reasonable, nice and virtuous life skills.And the character of Gordon was formed largely under the influence of a strict, but military personnele maternal morality.Gordon in 1915 went to Harvard, and from then began a half-century of his collaboration with Harvard University.At Harvard, the skilful abilities of Gordon turned in full crusade and gained focus.In parallel with the psychology he dealt with social ethics from an early age his interest was divided between psychology and the broader social place setting, and not by accident in the 30 years he created at Harvard the Department of Social Relations, an interdisciplinary by its very nature, with synthetic approaches of psychology, sociology and anthropology.A distinctive feature of the scientific outlook of Allport was a pretty big(a) influence on him of European psychology, peculiarly of William Stern, Eduard Spranger, and Gestalt psychology (in many value this was caused by staying of young scientist in Europe in the early 1920s).Influenced by these ideas, Allport, having been engaged in a 1920 in study of the issues of personality psychology, especially of personality traits and expressive movements, he quickly realized the need to apportion the whole personality, rather than its parts.After returningto Harvard,Allportat the age of 24wrote his doctoratein psychology, but the keyideas ofhis workwerepresentedto thema year earlierinthe articlePersonalitytraitstheir classification andmeasurement,written collectivelywithhis brotherFloyd, andpublishedin theJournal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. In the next two years Allport went to the internship in Europe first in Germany, where he worked with M. Wertheimer, V. Kohler, W. Stern, C. Stumpf, and then for a short time in England, at Cambridge.Drawing on personal experience with work with masters of German psychology, he later at home has long been a hint expert in this area and the interpreter of their ideas.In 1924 he returned to Harvard, where he began to read a completely new course of personality psychology.It is important to note that until then, many psychologists considered problems in the theory of personality not as psychological.The final breakthrough in this area has occurred in 1937, after publication of the Allports maj or monograph Personality a psychological study.In it the author (by the way, long before the groundbreaking theory of Maslow) was first to study a healthy personality and described its essential features.Allports collection of works Personality in Psychology presents a wide range of his interests health issues, religion and superstition, social prejudices, as well as the main methodological problems of psychology.In his work, which was reflected in 12 books and more than two hundred articles, he tried to glamour the complexity of human existence in the contemporary social context and resolutely refused to follow the fashionable tenets of his profession, demonstrating commitment to the imaginative and systematic eclecticism.During his career, Allport was awarded with almost all the regalia of a psychologist he was elected president of the American Psychological Association (1939), President of the psychological study of social problems, in 1963 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Psychological Foundation, in 1964, APA received an award for outstanding contributionin science.Allports approach to personalityAllport was the first in the world of psychology to build a holistic supposititious knowledge of the scientific psychology of personality.His book Personality a psychological interpretation, which was published in 1937, marked the beginning of the academic personality psychology.Personality, by Allport, is a dynamic organization of psycho-physical systems of the singular, which defines a unique adaptation of the individual to his environment. (Allport, 1937)G. Allport theory of personality is a combination of humanistic and individual approaches to the study of human behavior.Humanistic approach lies in an attempt to identify all aspects of human beings, and individual approach is reflected in an effort of G. Allport to understand and look to the development of the real, specific person.One of the main postulates of the theory of G. Allport is that personality is unbuttoned and self-developing.People first and foremost are a social beings and therefrom can not develop without contacts with other people and society.Here comes the Allport rejection of psychoanalysis on the antagonistic, hostile relations between the individual and society.In this case, G. Allport argued that the conference of personality and society is not striving for balance with the medium, but for networking and interaction.Thus, he strongly objected to the generally accepted postulate that development is an adaptation, an adaptation of man to the outside world, arguing that human nature just need to box up the balance and reach more and more new peaks.Explaining human behavior, G. Allport introduced the concept of traits.He defined the trait as the neuropsychological twist capable of converting a set of functionally equivalent stimuli, and to encourage and give equivalent forms of adaptive and expressive behavior.Simply it is propensity to behav e in a similar manner in a wide range of mails.G. Allport theory states that human behavior is relatively stable over time and in diverse situations.In the G. Allport system personality is characterized by traits, or defining characteristics. He proposed eight basic criteria for determining personality traits personality traits are real they exist in humans, and are not hypothetical abstractions personality trait is a more generalized notion than a habit personality traits is the driving, or at least, a defining subdivision of behavior, it motivates the individual the existence of personality traits can be established through empirical observation personality traits is only relatively independent, as people tend to fight back to events and phenomena according to a generalized manner personality traits can not be associated with this individual moral or social assessment the occurrence that actions and habits are inconsistent with the personality traits is not evidence of lack o f that traits.Allports scheme of Individual Trait and Common TraitEach person is an musical phrase unto himself,an apparent violation of the syntax of the species.( Allport G. Becoming Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality,1955, p.19).G. Allport pointed general and individual traits.The first include any characteristics peculiar to some number of people within a particular culture.Individual traits make up characteristics of the individual, which does not allow comparison with other people, that are those neuropsychiatric elements that direct, manage and motivate a certain type of behavior.This category of traits more full reflects the personality structure of each individual.Later G. Allport called individual personality traits as dispositions, and identified triad types of them Radical disposition.Almost all human actions can be explained by the influence of inborn traits. Central dispositions.They do not dominate, but are the foundation of human individuality. Secondary dispositions.These traits are slight visible, less generalized, less stable and therefore less suitable for the characteristics of personality.For example, eating habits and clothing, etc.G. Allport believed that personality is determined by the unity and integration of individual traits that give him originality.The PropriumIn 1950 Allport, however, introduced a new concept to replace the conventional I concept the notion of proprium.AProprium by Allport is similar to what William throng once explained as an area of I.The main thing that has developed Allport in connection with the concept of the proprium and proprium structures of personality is periodization of personal development, based on vii aspects of proprium.G. Allport identified seven stages of development of proprium from childhood to adulthood During the first three years child demonstrate three aspects the sense of a body, a sense of continuous self-identity and self-esteem or pride. At the age of four to sextette years, there are two other aspects self-identification and self-image. Between six and twelve years a child develops self-awareness, so that he can cope with problems on the basis of rational thought.In adolescence, there are intentions, plans and long-term goals, they called their own aspirations.So,inan adultindividual we can seea personwhosedeterminantsof behaviorisa systemof organizedand harmonioustraits, thesetraitsresulted from many different motivatings of anewborn.Normalindividualsusually knowwhatthey aredoing and why.Thisbehavior is consistent withcongruentpattern,andat the coreof this patternlie traits thatG.Allportcalledproprium.Completeunderstanding ofthe adultis not possible withoutconsidering hisgoalsandaspirations.Motive and operational AutonomyAccording to Allport, the core of the personality are the motives of activity.In target to explain the nature of motivation, he introduced the concept of functional autonomy, which means that the motivation of the adult is not functionally connected with his childhood experiences.Motives of human activity do not depend on the initial circumstances of their occurrence. Thus, adults are responsible for their deeds and actions, and do not depend on the vicissitudes of childhood. Motivesof adultscan not, according toAllport,resultfrom theirchildrensintentions and perceptions,andthese goalsare determined bythe currentsituationandcurrent intentions. Thus, functionalautonomy,in the view ofAllport,are motives of adultswhich do not dependontheirchildrens experiences.Criticism of AllportDespite hisinfluence inpsychology,theory ofAllporthas not receivedsufficient experimentalconfirmation.What is the empirical validity of the theoretical concept of personality in Allport?Analysis of relevant literature shows that the Allports theory does not rise any study to confirm its validity.With his views and concepts agreed only few well-known authors in the field Personology (Maddi, 1972).Allports position,empha sizing theuniqueness of the humanpersonality, as well asthe importanceof understanding personalgoalsand expectations,had asignificantimpact onthe views ofAbrahamMaslow,CarlRogersandother members ofhumanistic psychology.Allportworkonpersonality theoryhave playeda significantrolein the renewed interestof researchers inthissubject.Hisidea ofproducea verystrong impressionandgivesimpetus toa numberof new theoretical andappliedresearchin contemporarypersonality psychology. (Evans, 1971) mop upDuring the years of his long and highly productive career at Harvard University, Gordon Allport has through with(p) much to make research on the psychology of the individual of an academic importance.Before his book Personality psychological interpretation, the theory of personality problems in general was not considered as the subject of psychology.G. Allport was one of the few psychologists who do a bridge between academic psychology with its traditions on the one hand, and rapidly evolving field of clinical psychology and personality psychology on the other.This connection not only enriches sub-discipline discoveries, but also allows to set the intellectual continuity that is important for the future development of psychology. Finally, the novelty of the position of G. Allport lies in the fact that he focused on the future and present, and rarely on the past.Gordon Allport was a unique, proactive, integrated, forward-looking person, who left great theoretical material on the psychology of individual, andinfluencedmanyscientists, theirviews andapproaches,as well as all the science of psychology.