Theories of Personality 9th Edition

372 Part IV Dispositional Theories

Comparing this commonsense, clinical approach with Paige’s factorial study,

Allport (1966) presented some interesting parallels (see Table 12.1). Through

Jenny’s letters, then, we find that she possessed about eight central traits that char-

acterized the last 12 years of her life—if not her entire life. She was aggressive,

suspicious, possessive, aesthetic, sentimental, morbid, dramatic, and self-centered.

These central dispositions were sufficiently powerful that she was described in

similar terms both by Isabel (Ada Allport), who knew her well, and by independent

researchers, who studied her letters (Allport, 1965).

The close agreement between Allport’s commonsense clinical approach and

Paige’s factor analytic method does not prove the validity of either. It does, however,

indicate the feasibility of morphogenic studies. Psychologists can analyze one person and

identify central dispositions with consistency even when they use different procedures.

Related Research

More than any other personality theorist, Gordon Allport maintained a lifelong

active interest in the scientific study of religion and published six lectures on the

subject under the title The Individual and His Religion (Allport, 1950). On a per-

sonal level, Allport was a devout Episcopalian; and for nearly 30 years, he offered

a series of meditations in Appleton Chapel, Harvard University (Allport, 1978).

Understanding and Reducing Prejudice

Allport was interested in prejudice, and developing ways to reduce racial prejudice

was of the utmost importance to him. Allport (1954) proposed that one of the most

important components to reducing prejudice was contact: If members of majority

TABLE 12.1

Jenny’s Central Dispositions Revealed by Clinical and Factor

Analytic Techniques

Clinical Technique

(Allport)

Quarrelsome-suspicious

Aggressive

Self-centered (possessive)

Sentimental

Independent-autonomous

Aesthetic-artistic

Self-centered (self-pitying)

(No parallel)

Cynical-morbid

Dramatic-intense

Factor Analytic Technique

(Paige)

Aggression

Possessiveness

Need for affiliation

Need for family acceptance

Need for autonomy

Sentience

Martyrdom

Sexuality

(No parallel)

(“Overstate”; that is, the tendency to be

dramatic and to overstate her

concerns)