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COURSE NOTES: Personality

Chapter 7:
Allport

Based on the following textbook, with supplements and modifications by the author:
Cloninger, S. (2004). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.
Instructors who have adopted this text may obtain supplementary Powerpoint presentations from the publisher.

denotes a term that you should know how to define, and to recognize and give examples.

denotes an important person. You should remember this person's name and what (s)he has done.

denotes an important research finding.

denotes an issue that you should be able to discuss or explain.

THE TRAIT PERSPECTIVE

Trait approaches emphasize individual differences in characteristics that are more or less stable across time and across situations.
Trait approaches emphasize the measurement of these traits through tests, often self-report questionnaires.

lexical approach

Raymond Cattell: "All aspects of human personality which are or have been of importance, interest, or utility have already become recorded in the substance of language."
Hans Eysenck: "In any science, taxonomy precedes causal analysis."

measurement of traits

self-report
behavioral measures
factor analysis

Chapter 7:

Allport: Personological Trait Theory

Allport's meeting with Freud

"Psychologists would do well to give full recognition to manifest motives before probing the unconscious."

Major Themes in Allport's Work

Personality Consistency
Social Influence
The Concept of Self
Interaction of Personality with Social Influence
- "The same heat that melts the butter, hardens the egg."

Allport's Definition of Personality

"Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to the environment."

Dynamic Organization
Psychophysical Systems
Determinative
Unique
Adjustments to the Environment

Personality = f (Heredity) x (Environment)

Critics of trait concepts argue that it is circular reasoning to say a trait causes the same behavior that is the basis for inferring the trait exists.

Personality Traits

Allport's Definition of Trait

"a generalized and focalized neuropsychic system (peculiar to the individual), with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent (equivalent) forms of adaptive and expressive behavior."

Can We All Be Described by the Same Traits?

individual traits: possessed by only one person
- idiographic
common traits: possessed by many people, each to a varying extent
- nomothetic
This allows standardized personality testing.

unique trait: a trait that only one person has (also called individual trait); the psychophysical realities in Allport's theory

the charitable, loving trait of Mother Teresa (considered idiographically)
the intelligence of Albert Einstein (considered idiographically)

Inferring Traits

Inferring Traits from Language: The Dictionary Study
- Allport and Odbert's study of Webster's New International Dictionary
- 17,953 traits (4.5% of the dictionary)
Inferring Traits from Behavior
- expressive traits (including handwriting, pace of walking, and so on)
Inferring Traits from Documents: Letters from Jenny
- letters from Jenny Grove Masterson
- structural-dynamic analysis (content analysis)
- traits inferred from Jenny's letters:
  - quarrelsome-suspicious
  - self-centered
  - independent-autonomous
  - dramatic-intense
  - aesthetic-artistic
  - aggressive
  - cynical-morbid
  - sentimental
Inferring Traits from Personality Measurement: The Study of Values
Allowing for Inconsistency in Making Trait Inferences
- difference between
- phenotypical (observable behavior), and
- genotypical (underlying motive)
- influence of more than one trait on a behavior
- trait may not always be active
Allport's Attitude toward Methodology
- accepted "corrective empiricism"
- distrusted statistics
- objected to methodological excess ("methodolatry")

The Pervasiveness of Traits: Cardinal, Central, and Secondary Traits

cardinal: most pervasive
central
secondary: least pervasive

central trait: one of the half dozen or so traits that best describe a particular person

Jenny's traits of quarrelsome-suspicious, self-centered, etc.

cardinal trait: a pervasive personality trait that dominates nearly everything that a person does

Mother Teresa's charitableness
The Marquis de Sade's sadism

secondary trait: a trait that influences a limited range of behaviors

a personal preference for chocolate ice cream

Levels of Integration of Personality

Unifying Philosophy of Life
Self
Traits
Attitudes
Habits
Reflexes

Personality Development

Functional Autonomy

a trait’s independence of its developmental origins

Qualities of a Normal, Mature Adult

Extension of the Sense of Self
Warm Human Interaction
Emotional Security (Self-Acceptance)
Realistic Perception, Skills and Assignments
Self-Objectification: Insight and Humor
Unifying Philosophy of Life

Unity of Personality

Unitas Multiplex: the unity of multiples
The Proprium: includes all aspects of the personality that make for unity

Stages of Development

Bodily Sense
Self-Identity
Ego-Enhancement
Ego-Extension
Self-Image
Rational Agent (rational coper)
Propriate Striving
The Knower (self as knower)

Continuity and Change in Personality Development

(both occur)

Factors Contributing to Consistency in Personality

Influence of Personality on Social Phenomena

Prejudice

Allport’s classic book: The Nature of Prejudice
individual perspective, not from social historical perspective

Religion and Prejudice

extrinsic religious orientation: What's in it for me?
intrinsic religious orientation: I truly believe religious teachings to love others.

Concepts Associated with Intrinsic and Extrinsic Religiousness in Allport’s Writings

Religious Orientation as a Predictor of Religious Fundamentalism and Prejudice against Racial Minorities, Gays, and Lesbians [graph presented in lecture]

"Brotherhood and bigotry are intertwined in religion." -- G. W. Allport

Rumor Transmission