Chapter 12 Allport: Psychology of the Individual 369is peculiar to the single case. Because the term “idiographic” was so often misused,
misunderstood, and misspelled (being confused with “ideographic,” or the representa-
tion of ideas by graphic symbols), Allport (1968) abandoned the term in his later
writings and spoke of morphogenic procedures. Both “idiographic” and “morpho-
genic” pertain to the individual, but “idiographic” does not suggest structure or pattern.
In contrast, “morphogenic” refers to patterned properties of the whole organism and
allows for intraperson comparisons. The pattern or structure of one’s personal dispo-
sitions is important. For example, Tyrone may be intelligent, introverted, and strongly
motivated by achievement needs, but the unique manner in which his intelligence is
related to his introversion and each of his achievement needs forms a structured
pattern. These individual patterns are the subject matter of morphogenic science.
What are the methods of morphogenic psychology? Allport (1962) listed
many: some, completely morphogenic; some, partly so. Examples of wholly mor-
phogenic, first-person methods are verbatim recordings, interviews, dreams, con-
fessions; diaries, letters; some questionnaires, expressive documents, projective
documents, literary works, art forms, automatic writings, doodles, handshakes,
voice patterns, body gestures, handwriting, gait, and autobiographies.
When Allport met Hans Eysenck, the famous British factor analyst and believer
in nomothetic science (see Chapter 14), he told Eysenck that one day he (Eysenck)
would write his autobiography. Eventually, Eysenck (1997b) did indeed publish an
autobiography in which he admitted that Allport was right and that morphogenic
methods such as one’s description of one’s own life and work can have validity.
Semimorphogenic approaches include self-rating scales, such as the adjective
checklist; standardized tests in which people are compared to themselves rather
than a norm group; the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values (1960); and the
Q sort technique of Stephenson (1953), which we discussed in Chapter 10.
Consistent with common sense, but contrary to many psychologists, Allport
was willing to accept at face value the self-disclosure statements of most partici-
pants in a study. A psychologist who wishes to learn the personal dynamics of
people needs simply to ask them what they think of themselves. Answers to direct
questions should be accepted as valid unless the person is a young child, psychotic,
or extremely defensive. Allport (1962) said that “too often we fail to consult the
richest of all sources of data, namely, the subject’s own self-knowledge” (p. 413).
The Diaries of Marion Taylor
During the late 1930s, Allport and his wife, Ada, became acquainted with an
extremely rich source of personal data about a woman whom they called Marion
Taylor. The core of this data was nearly a lifetime of diaries, but personal informa-
tion on Marion Taylor also included descriptions of her by her mother, her younger
sister, her favorite teacher, two of her friends, and a neighbor as well as notes in
a baby book, school records, scores on several psychological tests, autobiographi-
cal material, and two personal meetings with Ada Allport.
Nicole Barenbaum (1997) has put together a brief account of Marion Taylor’s
life. Taylor was born in 1902 in Illinois, moved to California with her parents and
younger sister in 1908, and began writing to her diary in 1911. Soon after her 13th
birthday, her diary entries became more personal, including fantasies and secret