Gordon Allport

Gordon Allport (1897-1967), American psychologist. Allport is best known for his studies in personality appraisal and in social psychology, and for his emphasis on the uniqueness of each individual personality pattern. Gordon Willard Allport was born in Montezuma, Indiana, and was educated at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the German universities in Berlin and Hamburg, and the University of Cambridge, England. After teaching at Robert College in Constantinople (now İstanbul, Turkey), at Harvard, and at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, Allport returned to Harvard as assistant professor, and in 1942 was made professor of psychology there.

Allport’s motivational theory of 'functional autonomy' was widely accepted, and helped to displace the older view that all adult motives are simply the developments of hereditary or infantile motives. The controversial theory held that motives can function independently of a psychological need or drive. He was editor of the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology from 1937 to 1949. He was also author and co-author of many works, including Studies in Expressive Movement (1933); The Psychology of Radio (1935); Trait Names (1936); Personality, a Psychological Interpretation (1937); Psychology of Rumor (1947); The Individual and His Religion (1950); The Nature of Prejudice (1954); and Becoming: Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality (1955).