Chapter 7, Problem 1RQ

Summary Introduction

To illustrate:

Problems encountered by the Allport in his childhood and adolescence that had impacted his theory also.

Introduction:

Allport was youngest among his siblings, so he was not allowed to play games as equally his brothers play. Also, he felt isolated and rejected because of this. His elder brother Floyd was good at academics, and much influenced Floyd for his career. At the time of his adolescence, he once met Freud, and that only encounter was traumatic for him. All these things influenced Allport and can be seen in his theory.

Explanation of Solution

When Allport was very young, then he usually felt neglected and rejected because his elder brothers used to play with their streets friend and as he was too young to play the game efficiently. So, he was not very good at sports but was good in words. He later wrote in his theory that there is very less influence of childhood experiences on whole life. Rather psychologically healthy person doesn’t get affected by these experiences.

Years after, he felt inferior to his elder brother Floyd who was good in his academics, but Allport was not. Then he studied hard and attained a degree of Ph.D. from Harvard. For this, he had given the concept of functional autonomy in which he recited the goals gets modified and affected by experiences of life even after childhood.

Once he met Freud in his adolescence and he asked query regarding a boy who was not so clean and Freud spontaneously asked him rather it is joint to you because Allport liked to be neat and clean that has given a shock to the Allport. Then after various of researches, he was the first one who had emphasized on genetics that can also influence the traits because he perceive himself to be as ethical as his mother was and more qualities from parents. So, he emphasized on those factors that can be checked scientifically rather than the unconciousness which can’t be proved.

Conclusion

So, many experiences had influenced his theory and had made him to get various prizes and honor in his field. Functional autonomy, conscious behavior, no much emphasizes on childhood made his theory distinguish.