Scribd
Upload
545 views14 pages

Allport Mature Personality Lect 4

1. Gordon Allport described the development of mature personality as a process of becoming autonomous over time, where motives become stable and independent of early experiences. 2. The characteristics of a mature personality according to Allport include having interests beyond oneself, warm relationships with others, emotional security, realistic perceptions, self-insight and humor, and a unifying philosophy of life. 3. Allport believed that religion could help people develop a mature personality if they had an intrinsic religious orientation, meaning their beliefs were an end in themselves, rather than an extrinsic orientation where religion was used as a means to other ends like status.

Uploaded by

Faisal Ahmad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
545 views14 pages

Allport Mature Personality Lect 4

1. Gordon Allport described the development of mature personality as a process of becoming autonomous over time, where motives become stable and independent of early experiences. 2. The characteristics of a mature personality according to Allport include having interests beyond oneself, warm relationships with others, emotional security, realistic perceptions, self-insight and humor, and a unifying philosophy of life. 3. Allport believed that religion could help people develop a mature personality if they had an intrinsic religious orientation, meaning their beliefs were an end in themselves, rather than an extrinsic orientation where religion was used as a means to other ends like status.

Uploaded by

Faisal Ahmad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

Allport’s trait theory

Development of the mature personality

Functional Autonomy;

Characteristics of Maturity

Religion and Prejudice


Development of the mature personality;
• Allport described the developmental process as one of becoming. The
development of mature personality takes time, he believed only the adult is
capable of coming close to self-realization.
• These shifts are not always smooth and even they are instead often abrupt and
discontinuous.
• During this early stage of development not only children are dependents on
others but most of their behavior is design to help them survive.
• As their proprium develop children also learn to protect themselves against
threats by using various defensive strategies.
• In this regard Allport accepted the validity of Freud's ego defense
mechanisms but he argued that excessive use of these strategies is
indicative of an abnormal or immature personality.
• The mature personality is relatively free of these tactics.
• Allport also accepted that adult behavior is sometime motivated by sexual
and aggressive needs but such motivation play a small part in the
functioning of mature person, but is directed more by current events and
motives. e.g a student who eats little may not be fixated at oral stage but
rather may have to eat in the university dining hall where the food is
unappetizing.
• Functional Autonomy;
• As the child matures, both physically and psychologically, the individual’s
interests and motives become stable and predictable.

• A special type of psychological maturity (as opposed to genetic/biological


maturity) takes place, which Allport termed functional autonomy.

• Functional autonomy regards adult motives as varied, and as self-


sustaining systems that are unique to the individual.

• They may have arisen out of developmental processes and experiences,


but they are independent of them.
• This means that any tie between adult motives and early childhood experience is
historical, not functional.

• This is a radically different view than that of Sigmund Freud and most
psychodynamic theorists, who considered early childhood experiences to be the
driving force behind adult behavior, especially neurotic behavior.

• Allport offers the example of a good workman.

• Such a workman feels compelled to do his best work, even though his income no
longer depends on maintaining high standards.

• Indeed, doing his very best on every job may actually hurt him financially, but his
personal standards, his motivation, demand nothing less.
• When viewed a different way, functional autonomy serves another
important motivational role.

• This allows for entirely new sources of motivation to be relevant during


adulthood, motives that might have been completely beyond the
intellectual and cognitive capacities of children.

• Characteristics of Maturity;

• Allport settled on a list of six ideal characteristics of the mature


personality. He described the list as an ideal, because he freely
acknowledged that no one is perfect.
• Extension of the Sense of Self:

• The mature person focuses on more than simple needs or drive-reduction; they develop
strong interests outside of themselves.

• By truly participating in life, they give direction to their life.

• Warm Relating of Self to Others: The mature person is marked by two kinds of warmth.

• On one hand, through self-extension they are capable of great intimacy in their capacity
for love, whether it involves family members or friends.

• On the other hand, they avoid gossipy, intrusive, or possessive relationships with other
people.
• They respect other persons as persons, they express tolerance and the so-
called “democratic character structure.”

• Emotional Security (Self-Acceptance): Mature individuals demonstrate


emotional poise; they have the ability to avoid overreacting. Especially
important, according to Allport, is that they possess the quality of
“frustration tolerance.”

• Realistic Perception, Skills, and Assignments: Generally speaking, the


mature person is in close contact with what we call the “real world.” They
see things, including people, for what they really are.
• Self-Objectification - Insight and Humor: In describing this characteristic,
Allport quoted Socrates: “know thyself.”
• In Allport’s psychology classes, 96 percent of his students thought they had
average or better than average insight (by definition, only 50 percent can
be above the average).
• So people think they have good insight, but this is often not the case.
• There does appear to be a high correlation between insight and humor.
• People who truly know themselves are able to look at themselves
objectively, and to laugh at their own failings and mistakes.
• The Unifying Philosophy of Life:

• According to Allport, humor may be essential, but it is never sufficient.

• Maturity requires a sense of life’s purpose.

• This sense of purpose can be found in having a clear direction to one’s life,
in a strong orientation to values, within one’s religious sentiment, or
through a general conscience.

• Allport found it quite interesting that many people consider their desire to
serve society was a more important general motive than the fulfillment of
any sense of religious or spiritual duty.
• He concluded that an integrated sense of moral obligation can provide a
unifying philosophy of life regardless of whether or not it is tied to one’s
religious sentiments.

• Religion and Prejudice

• Allport was a deeply spiritual man, and he often wrote about the role of
religion in personality.

• Religion is such an important factor in so many people’s lives, that Allport


considered it “thoroughly ridiculous” that psychologists had paid so little
attention to it .
• Although Allport acknowledged that there were useful and logical reasons
for psychology to establish itself as a scientific endeavor, he felt it was just as
illogical to reject religion.

• Still, he believed that psychology must examine subjective religion in the


structure of personality whenever and wherever religion is involved.

• According to Allport , religion can play an important part in helping


individuals becoming more mature.

• He believed that commitment to religious beliefs can help organize and give
constructive meaning to our lives.
• He also understood that many individuals would reject his suggestion
completely by arguing that religion has done tremendous harm to
human beings throughout the history.

• Allport associated what he termed extrinsic religious orientations


with immaturity, and intrinsic religious orientation with maturity.

• Extrinsically oriented people use their religion as a means to an end.

• They use their religion as a security, self-serving comfort, status and


social support.
• Intrinsically oriented people, in contrast, consider their religious
beliefs as an end in themselves.

• They do not feel themselves superior to others.

• They take their religious beliefs seriously and organize their lives in
term of them.

• Allport summarize the difference between the two orientations by


saying that the extrinsically motivated person uses his religion
whereas the intrinsically motivated lives his religion.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy