PERSONALITY DISORDERS AND INTERVENTION ASSIGNMENT
NAME: PREYKSHA PANDEY
ROLL NO.: 234/PAP/009
PROGRAM: MA APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
YEAR: 2nd YEAR, 3rd SEMESTER
TOPIC: GORDON ALLPORT’S TRAIT APPROACH TO PERSONALITY
SUBMITTED TO: DR. NEHA SHARMA
CONTENT
1. Fundamentals of the approach
2. Nature of personality
3. Building blocks of personality – Traits
4. Types of traits
5. The Mature Personality
6. The Sense of Self – Proprium
7. Role of Conscious Mtivation
8. Case study: APJ Abdul Kalam
Trait Approach to Personality
- Gordon Allport
1. In 1937, Gordon Allport published Personality: A Psychological Interpretation which served two
purposes:
a. Brought personality into the mainstream and
b. Formulation of a theory of personality development where traits played a prominent
role.
2. Allport became interested in trait theory after rejecting Freud’s emphasis on unconscious
motivations and the dark side of personality. Allport bridged humanistic psychology and trait
theory. He emphasized the uniqueness of the individual, just as humanists do, and regarded
traits as the forms in which uniqueness is achieved and expressed.
3. Fundamentals
a. Definition of Personality
i. Allport defined personality as “the dynamic organization within the individual
of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his
environment” (Allport, 1937)
1. Psychophysical system - Personality is a system that has both
psychological and physical aspects, which interact with each other.
a. physiological level -> endocrine system and the various glands in
the system
b. psychological aspects -> traits, emotions, intellect,
temperament, character and motives.
2. Dynamic organisation - although personality is constantly changing and
growing, the growth is organized, not random.
3. Unique adjustment to the environment - Each person's unique
psychological traits shape their adaptation to experiences. Even identical
twins, originating from the same egg, exhibit diverse behaviours due to
individual uniqueness.
ii. Later in 1961, he had changed the last phrase to “that determine his
characteristic behavior and thought” (Allport, 1961), where he tried to convey
the idea that behavior is expressive as well as adaptive. People not only adjust
to their environment, but also reflect on it and interact with it in such a way as
to cause their environment to adjust to them.
1. Characteristic - implies individual uniqueness. The word ‘character’
originally meant a marking or engraving. Therefore he meant that
everyone stamp their unique mark or engraving on their personality, and
their characteristic behavior and thought set them apart from all other
people.
b. Nature of Personality
i. An interplay of heredity and environment.
Traits and other inherent aspects of personality are only potential guides for
behaviour requiring environmental/interpersonal interaction for complete
expression.
ii. Since no individual can have the exact same genetic endowment and
environment, Allport argued that to study personality, psychology must deal
with the individual case and not with average findings among groups. He called
it Morphogenic Science. (meaning, study of the individual)
iii. Allport viewed personality as discrete and discontinuous, believing that each
person is unique and that adulthood is separate from childhood. He argued that
biological urges drive infant behavior, while adult behavior is psychological,
with no direct continuum between the two.
iv. Allport focused on the conscious mind over the unconscious mind, emphasizing
the present and future over past experiences. He highlighted individuality over
generalizations and preferred studying normal personalities over abnormal
ones.
c. Building block of personality – Trait
i. He defined trait in partly biological terms as a "neuro-psychic structure having
the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and
guide equivalent forms of adaptive and express behaviour." (1961)
ii. Allport saw traits as the basic unit of personality that enables individuals to
respond consistently to different situations.
iii. For example, a person with the trait of friendliness will greet a salesperson and
pay attention to their offer.
In a different scenario, like being stopped by a police officer, the same trait will
guide them to respond politely. Despite the differing stimuli, the trait of
friendliness leads to similar, socially appropriate behavior in both cases; making
them functionally equivalent.
iv. Characteristics of traits (1937)
1. Personality traits are real and exist within individuals; they are not
mere labels for behavior.
2. Traits cause behavior, motivating us to seek stimuli and interact with
the environment, rather than just responding to external factors.
3. Traits can be empirically observed through consistent behavior patterns
over time.
4. Traits are interrelated, often overlapping, even when representing
different characteristics (e.g., aggressiveness and hostility are distinct
but related traits and are frequently observed to occur together in a
person’s behavior).
5. Traits vary with situations, so a person may display different traits
depending on the context (e.g., neatness in one scenario and
disorderliness in another).
d. Types of traits
i. Common traits: shared by people collectively, such as the members of a culture.
It follows that people in different cultures will have different common traits.
Ex - Stoicism in Northern European and some Asian cultures where emotional
restraint and endurance of hardship without complaint is often valued as a
strength. Or emphasis on community, cooperation, and group harmony in
Asian and African cultures. These traits are helpful in drawing comparisons
among people.
ii. Individual traits/Personal Disposition: unique to a person and defines their
character. These traits are further divided based on the importance traits carry
(1961):
1. Cardinal trait: very central to the essence of the individual. Ex - quixotic,
chauvinistic, narcissistic, sadistic, a Don Juan, etc. Because personal
dispositions are individual 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 characteristics in others, they
become common traits.
2. Central traits: 5-10 outstanding characteristics around which a person’s
life focuses; those which are descriptive of that person. These traits are
used in the Letter of Recommendation of that person by someone who
knows them quite well.
Ex - diligence, perseverance, aggressiveness, self-pity, and cynicism, etc.
3. Secondary traits: least influential individual traits; appear much less
consistently than cardinal and central traits, but are greater in number
than cardinal and central traits.
Ex - preference for a particular type of music or for a certain food.
Another classification that Allport made was:
1. Motivational Disposition: strongly felt dispositions that receive their
motivation from basic needs and drives. Ex - wearing wollen clothes in
Winter.
2. Stylistic Disposition: these are less intensely experienced. Ex -
preference for boho clothes.
e. The Mature Personality
i. True to his inclination toward Humanistic Psychology and disapproval to
Psychoanalysis, Allport came up with a definition of a mature personality as one
that exhibits the following characteristics:
1. Realistic assessment of self, one’s skills, and one’s external reality
2. Acceptance of self and others; ability to relate warmly to others in
appropriate situations
3. Ability to plan and delay gratification
4. Self-insight and being able to laugh at oneself
5. Participating in diverse activities and deriving gratification from diverse
sources, sometimes called a capacity for self-extension
6. A unifying philosophy of life or spiritual orientation; it includes having a
conscience and ethical principles or guidelines
f. The sense of self – Proprium
i. Allport coined the term “Proprium” to describe body sense, self-identity,
self-esteem, self-extension, rational thinking, and self-image – one’s sense of self
basically. It includes behaviors and characteristics that people regard as warm,
central, and important in their lives. The proprium is not the whole personality,
because many characteristics and behaviors of a person are not warm and
central; rather, they exist on the periphery of personality. Ex - habitual behav
iors, such as smoking or brushing.
ii. He described the nature and development of the proprium over seven stages
from infancy through adolescence:
STAGE AGE DEVELOPMENT
1. Bodily self 1-3 yrs Infants become aware of their own existence and distinguish
their own bodies from objects in the environment.
2. Self-identity Children realize that their identity remains intact despite the
many changes taking place in their body and abilities.
3. Self-esteem Children learn to take pride in their accomplishments.
4. Extension of Self 4-6 yrs Involves the growing awareness of objects and people in the
environment and the identification of them as belonging to the
child.
5. Self-image Children develop actual and idealised images of themselves
and their behavior.
These actual and ideal self-images develop from interaction
with the parents, who make the child aware of their
expectations and of the extent to which the child is satisfying
or failing to satisfy those expectations.
6. Self as a rational 6-12 yrs Children begin to apply reason and logic to the solution of
coper everyday problems.
7. Propriate Adolesc Children start formulating long-term plans and goals for the
Striving ence future.
8. Adulthood - Normal, mature adults are functionally autonomous,
independent of childhood motives. They function rationally in
the present and consciously create their own lifestyles.
iii. Allport also emphasised the importance of Parent-Child interactions, specifically
infant–mother bond. If the mother or primary caregiver provides sufficient
affection and security, the child will achieve positive psychological growth →
emotionally healthy adult. Otherwise their growth gets stunted and they
become insecure, aggressive, demanding, and jealous.
g. Role of conscious motivation
i. Allport emphasized the influence of a person’s present situation in his view of
motivation, meaning, it is the individual’s current state that is important, not
what happened in the past during toilet training, or some other childhood crisis.
ii. Allport tried to explain proactive behaviour; since in his view, a mature person
is not motivated merely to seek pleasure and reduce pain but to acquire new
systems of motivation that are functionally independent from their original
motives – functional autonomous.
iii. Functional Autonomy: meaning human motives are functionally independent of
the original motive responsible for the behaviour.
Ex - a person may originally plant a garden to satisfy a hunger drive but
eventually become interested in gardening for its own sake.
TYPES OF FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY DESCRIPTION
1. Perseverative Functional Behaviours that persist beyond their original purpose or
Autonomy motivation. These are based on neurological principles.
Ex: An individual who initially starts working hard to earn money
for financial security. Over time, this person achieves financial
stability, yet they continue to work diligently, not for the sake of
accumulating more money, but because the work itself has become
a source of satisfaction and purpose. The motivation for hard work
has persevered and become autonomous from the original goal of
financial security.
2. Propriate Functional Behaviors that are consistent with an individual's sense of self or
Autonomy proprium (core personality).
Ex: A person may engage in a particular hobby or activity during
their childhood due to external pressures or expectations. As they
mature, the individual may find a deep personal satisfaction and
identity in that activity, continuing to pursue it even when external
motivations are no longer present.
CASE STUDY: APJ ABDUL KALAM
APJ Abdul Kalam was deeply dedicated to his work and always pushed for innovation and excellence. He
was humble, compassionate, and approachable, earning widespread admiration. Known for his integrity
and discipline, he maintained a strong sense of responsibility while nurturing young minds through
education and mentorship.
Cardinal traits
His unwavering commitment to national development and scientific progress.
Central traits
His humility, integrity, and compassion, whichdefined his interactions with people
and his leadership style.
Secondary traits
His love for teaching and motivating the youth that surfaced in specific contexts.
