Allport's Trait Theory
Gordon W. Allport was a premier psychologist who extensively studied personality - especially traits. His trait theory contains several key concepts that all converge in the self, or what he called the "proprium." Traits are real, but they are not visible. He defines them as "a generalized and focalized neuropsychic system (peculiar to the individual), with the capacity to render many stimuli functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent (equivalent) forms of adaptive and expressive behavior" (Text 267). Type and trait are not the same thing, and Allport felt these traits are shaped as the person grows older. Allport's theories were often controversial, and that could certainly be said for his feelings about children. Allport felt children were unsocialized "horrors" who have to learn behavioral and social actions. Yes, young children are as he says, "egocentric," and they can be absolute horrors. They are testing their boundaries and what they can get away with, and they do it often because they have short attention spans and learning curves. Children have no social development when they are born, (Allport felt they were all hereditary traits at that point), and they have to mature and develop into cons
Allport followed the stages of development through to maturity, and used several criteria to characterize a fully mature individual. He also showed how these developmental stages could help mold an individual in many ways. These traits are "extension of the sense of self, warm relatedness to others, self-acceptance, realistic perception of reality, self-objectification, and unifying philosophy of life" (Text 276-277). These traits must all be present in a mature person for the person to truly have progressed throughout development. As far as other criteria for maturity, it seems there must be some. For example, I think a general criteria of responsibility should be added to the list. Some of that is addressed in Allport's "unifying philosophy of life," but there is no real aspect of responsibility that comes with age and maturity. I think that Allport's theory that young people are unsocialized hellions is a good example of this. As people mature, they become responsible for themselves and for people who depend on them, whether it is job, family, or friends. I think that responsibility is a vital aspect of development and of personality. Allport's views on religion also helped make his theories controversial. I totally agree that religion can be a force for good or evil in a person's life. I have friends who are very religious, but I think they use their beliefs as a crutch. They blame "God's will" when bad things happen, and they put their lives "in God's hands." I think that is way for them not to be responsible for the things that
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Approximate Word count = 1050
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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