The Life and Work of the 'Founding Father'
of Personality Psychology
Timeline
1897
1937
1961-1967
Gordon Allport was an American Psychologist, born in Montezuma, Indiana on the 11th of November 1897. Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on personality and is often referred to as the “founding father” of personality psychology.
1930
1954
His last significant piece of work that he wrote was ‘Pattern and Growth in Personality’.
Allport died on October 9th 1967, of lung cancer.
He was one month away from turning seventy years old.
Allport is also famous for writing ‘The Nature of Prejudice’, a social psychology book that discusses the reasons for prejudice. The book succeeded in rethinking the connection between prejudice and intergroup contact. While previous scholars argued that communication between various groups leads to a growth in prejudice and conflict, Allport opposed this.
One of his first works on the theory of personality was ‘Personality: A Psychological Interpretation’, in which he discussed his most influential concept. He examined the difference between motive and drive. He proposed that a drive forms as a reaction to a motive, meaning that the drive could then surpass a motive, as a reason for a certain type of behaviour. The drive then becomes autonomous/separate from the motive. This concept is referred to as ‘functional autonomy’.
Allport became professor of psychology at Harvard University. He related his attitude to the study of personality to his social interests and was one of a increasing number of psychologists who wanted to introduce the influence of humanism into psychology.