The Psychology Book

PSYCHOLOGY OF DIFFERENCE 311

to Allport, most of us have
personalities made up of five
to ten of these traits at a level
whereby they have become our
“outstanding characteristics.”
Over time, common traits may
achieve “functional autonomy,” by
which Allport means that although
we start doing something for one
reason, we may carry on doing it for

quite another. This is because our

motives today are not continuously

dependent on the past. We may

start learning to draw, for instance,

to compete in popularity with

another child in class, but

ultimately become more interested

in perfecting the craft for its own

sake. This means that how we

think and act today is only

indirectly affected by our past.

Functional autonomy is also

thought to explain obsessive and

compulsive acts and thoughts: they

may be manifestations of

functionally autonomous traits,

where someone has no idea why

he is doing something, but can’t

stop himself from doing it.

Allport’s third category of traits,

known as secondary traits, exert

much less influence on us than

cardinal or common traits. They are

only seen in certain circumstances,

because they are determined by

context or situation. For instance,

we might say of someone “he gets

very angry when tickled” or “she

gets nervous on flights.” These

traits express preferences or

attitudes that are open to change.

In the absence of another person,

secondary traits might be present

but quite invisible. Added to

the common and cardinal traits,

they provide a complete picture

of human complexity.

Traits and behavior

Allport was interested in how traits

are forged in a person, and their

connection with behavior. He

suggested that a combination of

internal and external forces

influence how we behave. Certain

internal forces, which he called

“genotypes,” govern how we retain

information and use it to interact

with the external world. At the

same time, external forces, which

he named “phenotypes,” determine

the way individuals accept their

surroundings and how they allow

others to influence their behavior. ❯❯

Any theory that

regards personality

as stable, fixed, or

invariable is wrong.

Gordon Allport

Genotype traits are internal,
but phenotype traits are
external—they require
stimuli from the outside
world to make them manifest.

Phenotype traits

Genotype traits

Creative thinking

Personality

Traits

Fear

Irritation

Gluttony

Person in difficulty Kindness to others

Self-sufficiency

Spider

Rude person