Gordon Allport
American psychologist and founding figure of personality psychology.
Gordon Allport, an American psychologist born in 1897, is considered a founding figure in personality psychology. He was among the first to make personality the central focus of study. Allport helped develop values scales and took a middle ground between the psychoanalytic approach, which he felt was too interpretive, and the behavioral approach, which he thought lacked sufficient depth. Instead, he built an eclectic theory centered on traits, stressing that each person is unique and that understanding personality requires focusing on the present context rather than past history.
Allport’s influence on psychology was significant and lasting. This came partly from his talent for identifying and broadly framing important topics like rumor, prejudice, religion, and traits. It also came from the deep impression he left on his students during his long teaching career at Harvard University, many of whom—including Jerome S. Bruner, Anthony Greenwald, Stanley Milgram, Leo Postman, Thomas Pettigrew, and M. Brewster Smith—went on to prominent careers in psychology. His brother, Floyd Henry Allport, was a professor of social and political psychology at Syracuse University. A 2002 survey ranked Gordon Allport as the 11th most-cited psychologist of the 20th century.
Allport grew up in a religious family of Christian missionaries. Born in Montezuma, Indiana, he was the youngest of four sons. By age six, his family had moved several times before settling in Ohio, where he attended public schools in Cleveland. His father, John Edward Allport, was a country doctor who ran his clinic and hospital out of the family home. Gordon and his brothers grew up surrounded by patients, nurses, and medical equipment, often assisting their father. Gordon later said that tending the office, washing bottles, and dealing with patients were key parts of his early training. His father was criticized in Samuel Hopkins Adams’ exposé on fraudulent medicines for diagnosing and treating morphine addicts by mail without in-person visits. When Adams wrote to John Allport pretending to be an addict, Allport diagnosed him and sent a “cure” that analysis showed was mostly morphine and pink whiskey. Adams called Allport a quack who was more dangerous than other frauds. Gordon’s mother, a former teacher, strongly promoted intellectual development and religion.
Biographers describe Allport as a reserved, diligent boy who lived a fairly isolated childhood. As a teenager, he ran his own printing business and edited his high school newspaper. In 1915, he graduated second in his class at Glenville High School, earning a scholarship to Harvard. His older brother Floyd was already working on a Ph.D. in psychology there. Allport earned his A.B. in Philosophy and Economics in 1919, then traveled to Europe, visiting Sigmund Freud in Vienna. He did graduate work at the University of Berlin and the University of Hamburg before teaching at Robert College in Istanbul. He returned to Harvard as an instructor in social ethics and later studied psychology on a fellowship. His first publication, co-authored with Floyd in 1921, was on personality traits. He earned his master’s in 1921 and his Ph.D. in 1922, having taken a class with Hugo Münsterberg. Harvard then awarded him a Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, which he used to study with the Gestalt School in Germany and at Cambridge University. From 1921 to 1937, he helped establish personality as a research field in American psychology. He returned to Harvard as a psychology instructor in 1924, teaching his course “Personality: Its Psychological and Social Aspects.” He married Ada Lufkin Gould, a clinical psychologist, and they had one son, who became a pediatrician.
- born
- November 11, 1897
- died
- October 9, 1967
- field
- Psychology
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Trait theory of personality, values scales, founding figure of personality psych
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Gordon Allport was born in Montezuma, Indiana, on November 11, 1897, the youngest of four sons of John Edward and Nellie Edith Allport. His father was a country doctor who turned their home into a makeshift hospital, with patients and nurses residing there. Allport reported that 'Tending office, washing bottles, and dealing with patients were important aspects of my early training' (p. 172). His mother, a former school teacher, forcefully promoted her values of intellectual development and religion. As a teenager, Allport developed and managed his own printing business while serving as editor of his high school newspaper. In 1915, he graduated second in his class at Glenville High School, earning a scholarship to Harvard University, where his older brother Floyd Henry Allport was working on his Ph.D. in psychology. Allport earned his A.B. in Philosophy and Economics in 1919. The following year, he traveled to Europe and visited Sigmund Freud in Vienna. He did graduate work at the University of Berlin and the University of Hamburg before teaching at Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey. He then returned to Harvard to become an instructor in social ethics before studying psychology on a fellowship in 1920. His first publication, 'Personality Traits: Their Classification and Measurement' in 1921, was co-authored with his brother Floyd. Allport earned his master's degree in 1921 and his Ph.D. in 1922. After teaching at Dartmouth College for four years (1926 to 1930), he returned to Harvard and remained there for the rest of his career. He married Ada Lufkin Gould, a clinical psychologist, and they had one son who became a pediatrician. Allport helped establish personality as a psychological research type within American psychology from 1921 through 1937. He died of lung cancer on October 9, 1967, at the Stillman Infirmary of Harvard University.
Reader's Guide
Gordon Allport's significance lies in his foundational role in personality psychology and his development of trait theory. He rejected both psychoanalytic and behavioral approaches, arguing that psychoanalysis was too deeply interpretive and behaviorism did not provide deep enough interpretations from their data. Instead, he developed an eclectic theory based on traits, emphasizing the uniqueness of each individual and the importance of present context over personal history. Allport compiled a list of 4,500 trait-like words from the dictionary and organized them into three levels: cardinal traits (rare, dominating passions), central traits (general characteristics found in some degree in every person), and secondary traits (characteristics seen only in certain circumstances). His work contributed to the lexical hypothesis and the formation of values scales. Allport had a profound and lasting influence on the field of psychology, partly from his knack for exploring and broadly conceptualizing important topics (e.g., rumor, prejudice, religion, traits) and partly from the deep impression he made on his students during his long teaching career. Among his many students at Harvard were Jerome S. Bruner, Anthony Greenwald, Stanley Milgram, Leo Postman, Thomas Pettigrew, and M. Brewster Smith. A 2002 survey ranked Allport as the 11th most-cited psychologist of the 20th century. He published key works including The Individual and His Religion (1950), The Nature of Prejudice (1954), and Becoming: Basic Considerations for Psychology of Personality (1955). He also served as President of the American Psychological Association in 1939 and received the Gold Medal Award from the American Psychological Foundation in 1963.
Did You Know?
- Allport visited Sigmund Freud in Vienna in 1920, the year after earning his A.B. degree.
- His father, Dr. J. Edward Allport, was criticized in Samuel Hopkins Adams' exposé for diagnosing and treating morphine addicts by mail, sending doses of medicine that analysis revealed contained only additional morphine and pink whiskey.
- Allport graduated second in his class at Glenville High School in 1915, earning a scholarship to Harvard University.
- He was the second youngest person ever elected President of the American Psychological Association in 1939.
- Allport's first publication, 'Personality Traits: Their Classification and Measurement' (1921), was co-authored with his older brother Floyd Henry Allport.
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