0390435333.pdf

Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
Edition

IV. Dispositional Theories 13. Allport: Psychology of

the Individual

© The McGraw−Hill^405

Companies, 2009

themselves for who they are; have a realistic perception of the world; and

possess insight, humor, and a unifying philosophy of life.

• Allport advocated a proactiveposition, one that emphasized the notion that
  people have a large measure of conscious controlover their lives.


• Common traitsare general characteristics held in common by many people.
  They may be useful for comparing one group of people with another.


• Individual traits(personal dispositions) are peculiar to the individual and
  have the capacity to render different stimuli functionally equivalent and to
  initiate and guide behavior.


• Three levels of personal dispositions are (1) cardinal dispositions,which
  only a few people possess and which are so conspicuous that they cannot
  be hidden; (2) central dispositions,the 5 to 10 individual traits that
  make a person unique; and (3) secondary dispositions,which are less
  distinguishable but far more numerous than central dispositions.


• Personal dispositions that initiate actions are called motivational traits.


• Personal dispositions that guide actions are called stylistic traits.


• The propriumrefers to those behaviors and personal dispositions that are
  warm and central to our lives and that we regard as peculiarly our own.


• Functional autonomyrefers to motives that are self-sustaining and
  independent from the motives that were originally responsible for a behavior.


• Perseverative functional autonomyrefers to those habits and behaviors that
  are not part of one’s proprium.


• Propriate functional autonomyincludes all those self-sustaining
  motivations that are related to the proprium.


• Allport used morphogenic procedures,such as diaries and letters, which
  stress patterns of behavior within a single individual.

Chapter 13 Allport: Psychology of the Individual 399