Gordon Allport

18/05/2025

30/05/2022

Gordon Allport died from lung cancer on October 9, 1967, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was one month away from his 70th birthday. leaving behind many unfinished books, articles, and two psychological tests. Although Allport may not be as well-known as some of his contemporaries, the contributions he made to our modern day understanding of the human personality are unquestionable. His excellent mentorship of some of the most brilliant minds ever to work in the field of psychology is another part of his enduring legacy.

References:
https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Psychology/Book%3A_Personality_Theory_in_a_Cultural_Context_(Kelland)/10%3A_Trait_Theories_of_Personality/10.02%3A_10.1_A_Brief_Biography_of_Gordon_Allport #:~:text=His%20first%20book%2C%20Studies%20in,Interpretation%20(Allport%2C%201937).
https://practicalpie.com/gordon-allport/

30/05/2022

I decided to take some break from work, at Louvre, Paris. Where I booked my visit to one of the most famous museums around the globe, Louvre Museum. An absolute must visit museum, not only because of its remarkable architecture and great exhibitions, but because of the fact that some of the most amazing pieces of art in the world are situated here. Monalisa, Venus de milo and more. Since it is also one of the most visited museums here in Paris, I got the chance to appreciate the uniqueness every individual has in terms of their preferred form of art. Majority loves Monalisa (thus, if you want to see the Mona Lisa make sure you go straight there because there’s a line to see it and most of the time it’s a long one). Since it’s also a huge museum to explore. You will get exhausted after your visit. Hence, you will eventually need to take some snack break. And as for me my snack break didn’t really go quite well because the strawberry drink, I ordered from Starbucks to quench my thirst, contains tons of ice. (Did not worth the price plus, it tasted more like a water with a tad bit strawberry flavor, not recommending this one) now, but their muffin on the other hand *chef’s kiss*.

30/05/2022

Quote of the Day❤

"To understand what a person is, it is necessary always to refer to what he may be in the future, for every state of the person is pointed in the direction of future possibilities."

-Gordon Williard Allport

29/05/2022

Quote of the Day♥️

"Much of our life is spent wishing others understood us better than they do."

-Gordon Williard Allport

29/05/2022

MOTIVE AND DRIVE

I was one of the first researchers to differentiate between Motive and Drive. I proposed that a drive forms as a reaction to a motive, which may outgrow the motive as the reason for a behavior. The drive then becomes autonomous and different from the motive, whether the motive was instinct or something else. The idea that drives can become independent of the original motives for a particular behavior is known as “functional autonomy.”

I gave 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.

I proposed two levels of functional autonomy: Perseverative functional autonomy and Propriate functional autonomy.

28/05/2022

I would like to encourage everyone (specifically those who wanted to focus on the different personalities of individuals, like me.) To join this community on reddit I just joined in. for, it has numerous explanation/ discussion and research from different perspective of people that will make you understand “what makes you the way you are”.

28/05/2022

Last mo na yan pre~

28/05/2022

LEXICAL APPROACH

In 1936, Henry Odbert and I used the lexical approach to conduct one of the most important and seminal studies in personality psychology. We used the dictionary to identify nearly 18,000 terms that described personality, behaviors, and traits. We began to focus on finding the most efficacious way to describe differences between people’s personalities. And we suggested that the individual differences that are most salient and socially relevant in people’s lives would eventually become encoded into their language; the more important a difference, the more likely it will become expressed as a single word. This becomes known as the "Lexical Hypothesis" or "Lexical Approach." It suggested that by sampling language, it would be possible to derive a comprehensive taxonomy of human personality traits.

Lexical Hypothesis/Lexical Approach: The individual differences that are most salient and socially relevant in people’s lives become encoded into their language.

28/05/2022

Hindi naman sa pinagmamayabang, pero parang ganon na nga.

I received a number of awards and served in several prestigious roles over the course of my career. Some of my accomplishments include:

-Elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1933)
-Elected as Editor of the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology (1937)
-Elected as President of the American Psychological Association (1939)
-Elected as President of the Easter Psychological Association (1943)
-Elected as President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (1944)
-Appointed as a Director of the Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (1947)
-Received the Gold Medal Award from the American Psychological Foundation (1963)
-Received the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (1964)

28/05/2022

MY WORK HISTORY💼

📍Harvard University
📍Darthmouth College

I began working at Harvard in 1924. I was appointed as a social science instructor at Harvard University. I became a professor of psychology for six years.

I left Harvard University and accepted an offer to become an assistant professor of psychology at Dartmouth College in 1926. During my time there, I taught an introductory course on psychology as well as other courses on personality psychology and social ethics.

By 1930, I returned to Harvard. I was offered the position of assistant professor of psychology at Harvard. I was promoted to associate professor in 1936 and professor in 1942, where I would remain for the rest of my academic career.

28/05/2022

Quote of the Day♥️

“Personality is and does something…it is what lies behind specific acts and within the individual”.

- Gordon Williard Allport