The Life and Work of the 'Founding Father'
of Personality Psychology
early life
The American psychologist Gordon Allport was
born on the 11th of November, 1897, to educator
Nellie Edith Wise and medical practitioner John
Edwards Allport. Allport was one of their four
children to be born in Indiana, but the family
moved to Cleveland, Ohio when he was 6.
Due to the nature of his father’s profession,
Allport along with his siblings were frequently
surrounded by their father's medical patients,
due to the lack of medical facilities in the area.
​
Allport’s educational journey began in the public schools of Cleveland. When it was time to move onto college life, Gordon chose to study psychology and what is now known as the humanistic approach through science and social action in Harvard University. In particular, his studies focused on personality and the nature of prejudice and conflict in both American and foreign communities. Allport later revealed that his experience in the medical profession through his father’s work proved to be detrimental to his educational and professional career. He used idiographic methods to study individual personalities, often without even meeting the person he was studying, for example the letters from Jenny, and diaries of ‘Marion Taylor’. In 1922, at the age of 25, Allport received his PhD from Harvard University.
​
​
education
adult life
major achievements
death
Once Allport received his PhD, he decided to travel to England and Germany to further his studies. He returned to the United States in 1924 with the purpose of teaching the first course on personality theory in Harvard. After receiving the chance to teach in Dartmouth, he accepted this opportunity and spent a few years teaching his course there, returning to Harvard in 1930, now at the age of 33. During this time, Allport met his spouse Ada Lufkin Gould, with whom he later had a son. The scientific profession continued to run within the family, as Ada was a clinical psychologist and their son became a paediatrician later down the line.
​
​
At the age of 40, Allport published a book titled ‘Personality: A Psychological Interpretation’ which became a best-seller amongst other social scientists. In the book, he described three types of personality traits which reflected the true nature, general nature, and the behaviours which didn’t align with those of true/general nature of a person.
Allport became chair of the Psychology Department in Harvard, President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and edited the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Allport died on October 9th, 1967 at the age of 69, just one month away from 70. He suffered a severe case of lung cancer and after a tough fight, he passed and was buried in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
​
Professor Gordon Allport speaking at a meeting in Harvard University.
During the second World War, Allport assisted the APA (American Psychology Association) as head of the Emergency Committee which worked with scholar refugees. He became President of the American Psychology Association in 1939 at the age of 42 and received a Distinguished Scientific Contribution to Psychology award in 1964, just a few years before his passing.
He left behind a legacy of numerous contributions to personality studies, and is fondly remembered by former colleagues, students, and of course, family.
Circus Parade in Indiana, the State Allport was born in.