Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionIV. Dispositional Theories 13. Allport: Psychology of
the Individual(^388) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
Levels of Personal Dispositions
Allport placed personal dispositions on a continuum from those that are most cen-
tral to those that are of only peripheral importance to a person.
Cardinal Dispositions Some people possess an eminent characteristic or ruling
passion so outstanding that it dominates their lives. Allport (1961) called these per-
sonal dispositions cardinal dispositions.They are so obvious that they cannot be
hidden; nearly every action in a person’s life revolves around this one cardinal dis-
position. Most people do not have a cardinal disposition, but those few people who
do are often known by that single characteristic.
Allport identified several historical people and fictional characters who pos-
sessed a disposition so outstanding that they have given our language a new word.
Some examples of these cardinal dispositions include quixotic, chauvinistic, narcis-
sistic, sadistic, a Don Juan, and so forth. Because personal dispositions are individ-
ual and are not shared with any other person, only Don Quixote was truly quixotic;
only Narcissus was completely narcissistic; only the Marquis de Sade possessed the
cardinal disposition of sadism. When these names are used to describe characteris-
tics in others, they become common traits.
Central Dispositions Few people have cardinal dispositions, but everyone has sev-
eral central dispositions,which include the 5 to 10 most outstanding characteristics
around which a person’s life focuses. Allport (1961) described central dispositions as
those that would be listed in an accurate letter of recommendation written by some-
one who knew the person quite well. In the section titled The Study of the Individ-
ual, we will look at a series of letters written to Gordon and Ada Allport by a woman
they called Jenny. The contents of these letters constitute a rich source of informa-
tion about the writer. We will also see that three separate analyses of these letters re-
vealed that Jenny could be described by about eight central dispositions: that is,
characteristics sufficiently strong to be detected by each of these three separate
procedures. Similarly, most people, Allport believed, have 5 to 10 central disposi-
tions that their friends and close acquaintances would agree are descriptive of that
person.
Secondary Dispositions Less conspicuous but far greater in number than central
dispositions are the secondary dispositions.Everyone has many secondary disposi-
tions that are not central to the personality yet occur with some regularity and are re-
sponsible for much of one’s specific behaviors.
The three levels of personal dispositions are, of course, arbitrary points on a
continuous scale from most appropriate to least appropriate. Cardinal dispositions,
which are exceedingly prominent in a person, shade into central dispositions, which
are less dominating but nevertheless mark the person as unique. Central dispositions,
which guide much of a person’s adaptive and stylistic behavior, blend into second-
ary dispositions, which are less descriptive of that individual. We cannot say, how-
ever, that one person’s secondary dispositions are less intense than another person’s
central dispositions. Interperson comparisons are inappropriate to personal disposi-
tions, and any attempt to make such comparison transforms the personal dispositions
into common traits (Allport, 1961).
382 Part IV Dispositional Theories