Gordon Allport Trait Theory.pptx

a short presentation on Gordon Allport's Theory of personality dealing with the Cardinal Traits, Central Traits and Secondary Traits.

1. Gordon Allport Personality Traits By, Elow Mario I PG M.Sc. Counselling Psychology

2. Introduction Personality has been a subject of interest since Ancient Times. Can be traced back to the Ancient Greek Philosophers. 370 BCE: Hippocrates’ Four Humours tries to understand personality.

3. What is Personality? Origin: Latin word- ‘ persona’ meaning Mask. Combination of an individuals thoughts, characteristics, behaviours, attitudes, ideas and habits. APA: “personality refers to individual differences in characteristics patters of thinking, feeling and behaving.

4. “ the traits that predicts a persons’ behaviour” - Raymond Cattell “ it refers to the unique and consistent pattern of thinking and feeling and behaving” –Pervin Personality usually refers to the distinctive patterns of behaviour, including thoughts and emotions that characterize each individuals. Some Definitions of Personality:

5. He focused much on the study of Personality One of the founders of ‘Personality Psychology’ His theories on personality is considered to be one of the more scientific ones; it put forward the concept of ‘traits’ in understanding personality. Gordon Allport & Personality:

6. Allport & Personality continued: Allport presaged 49 definitions of personality as used in Philosophy, Theology, Law, Psychology and Sociology. Allport defined personality as, “ the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical system that determines his unique adjustments to his environment” (1937) L ater in 1961, he altered the last sentence of the definition as “ that determine his characteristic behaviour and thought .”

7. Dynamic Organization: it implies that the diverse facets (parts) of personality have interrelatedness and integration among them. Psychophysical: it emphasized the importance of both the physical as psychological facets of personality. Determine: implies action, meaning that personality is something & does something. Allport’s personality explained:

8. Characteristic: it simply means ‘uniqueness’ Behaviour & Thought: it basically refer to anything the person does – include internal behaviour (thought) and external behaviours such as words and actions. Allport definition suggests that humans are product as well as process. Allport’s personality explained:

9. Six standards of personality: Allport acknowledged Six standards for the Mature Personality; according to him, an individual should have the following characteristics in their personality. An extension of the sense of self: not self centered, but concerned and involved on things not centered on them. Warm relating of self to others: they are capable of loving others in an intimate and emphatic manner; unselfishly and non- possesively . Emotional security or Self Acceptance: accept themselves as they are- emotional poise and they don’t over react.

10. Six standard of personality: #Allport Realistic perception of their environment: they are reality minded; they do not twist reality, nor do they live in a fantasy world of their own. Insight and Humour: ability to see and understand something. Unifying philosophy of life: having a goal or purpose in life. Allport speaks of a mature religious orientation as a vital ingredient in psychological maturity.

11. What are Traits? They are relatively permanent entities in the individual; they are reflected in the individuals many behaviours in different situations. They are not theoretical structures or constructs, but are real and found within the individual. They are verified empirically and it guide and direct behaviour and enable the individual to behave in a particular manner. According to Allport, Traits constitute the basic unit of individuals personality. He defined trait as the predisposition to respond and reach in the same or similar manner.

12. Allport trait theory: Allport specifies three t ypes of traits that Governs our personality:

13. Cardinal Trait: Dominant traits of a personality. They are the master controller of one’s personality. Almost all of a persons activities are traced to this traits influence. They are at the very core of the personality. These trait is very rare; very few people have personalities dominated by cardinal traits. Majority of people have multiple traits.

14. Central Traits: Second in hierarchy in Allport theory. Every person possesses 5-10 Central traits in varying degrees. They are called the building blocks of personality. People around them can easily notice this trait in an individual. It defines an individuals’ personality. E.g.: words like smart, intelligent, loyal, aggressive…etc.

15. Secondary Traits: They are the less relevant traits of an individual personality. They are situational or circumstantial traits. These traits are less generalized, less consistent and less relevant. They are responsible for behaviours that are incongruent (not suitable/fitting) to an individuals usual behaviour. Reflected in the various preferences and attitudes of the individual.

16. Critical Analysis: Allport’s theory of personality is based heavily on common sense and philosophical speculations than on scientific investigations. His theory focuses on the individual that it is unfeasible to generalize from one person to another.

17. T H A N K Y O U