Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionIV. Dispositional Theories 13. Allport: Psychology of
the Individual(^382) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
In other words, no theory is completely comprehensive, and psychologists
should always realize that much of human nature is not included in any single the-
ory. To Allport, a broad, comprehensive theory is preferable to a narrow, specific the-
ory even if it does not generate as many testable hypotheses.
Biography of Gordon Allport
Gordon Willard Allport was born on November 11, 1897, in Montezuma, Indiana,
the fourth and youngest son of John E. Allport and Nellie Wise Allport. Allport’s fa-
ther had engaged in a number of business ventures before becoming a physician at
about the time of Gordon’s birth. Lacking adequate office and clinical facilities, Dr.
Allport turned the household into a miniature hospital. Both patients and nurses were
found in the home, and a clean, sterile atmosphere prevailed.
Cleanliness of action was extended to cleanliness of thought. In his autobiog-
raphy, Allport (1967) wrote that his early life “was marked by plain Protestant piety”
(p. 4). Floyd Allport, his older brother by 7 years, who also became a famous psy-
chologist, described their mother as a very pious woman who placed heavy empha-
sis on religion (F. Allport, 1974). As a former schoolteacher, she taught young Gor-
don the virtues of clean language and proper conduct as well as the importance of
searching for ultimate religious answers.
By the time Gordon was 6 years old, the family had moved three times—finally
settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Young Allport developed an early interest in philosoph-
ical and religious questions and had more facility for words than for games. He de-
scribed himself as a social “isolate” who fashioned his own circle of activities. Al-
though he graduated second in his high school class of 100, he did not consider
himself an inspired scholar (Allport, 1967).
In the fall of 1915, Allport entered Harvard, following in the footsteps of his
brother Floyd, who had graduated 2 years earlier and who at that time was a gradu-
ate assistant in psychology. In his autobiography, Gordon Allport (1967) wrote: “Al-
most overnight my world was remade. My basic moral values, to be sure, had been
fashioned at home. What was new was the horizon of intellect and culture I was now
invited to explore” (p. 5). His enrollment at Harvard also marked the beginning of a
50-year association with that university, which was only twice briefly interrupted.
When he received his bachelor’s degree in 1919 with a major in philosophy and eco-
nomics, he was still uncertain about a future career. He had taken undergraduate
courses in psychology and social ethics, and both disciplines had made a lasting
impression on him. When he received an opportunity to teach in Turkey, he saw it
as a chance to find out whether he would enjoy teaching. He spent the academic
year 1919–1920 in Europe teaching English and sociology at Robert College in
Istanbul.
While in Turkey, Allport was offered a fellowship for graduate study at Har-
vard. He also received an invitation from his brother Fayette to stay with him in
Vienna, where Fayette was working for the U.S. trade commission. In Vienna, Allport
had the meeting with Sigmund Freud that we briefly described in the introduction to
this chapter. This meeting with Freud greatly influenced Allport’s later ideas on per-
sonality. With a certain audacity, the 22-year-old Allport wrote to Freud announcing
that he was in Vienna and offered the father of psychoanalysis an opportunity to
376 Part IV Dispositional Theories