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Part IV    Dispositional Theories380
Allport argued against particularism, ortheories thatemphasize asingle aspect 
ofpersonality. Inanimportant warning toother theorists, hecautioned them notto
“forget what youhavedecided toneglect” (Allport, 1968, p.23).
Inother words, notheory iscompletely comprehensive, andpsychologists 
should always realize thatmuch ofhuman nature isnotincluded inanysingle theory. 
ToAllport, abroad, comprehensive theory ispreferable toanarrow, specific theory 
evenifitdoesnotgenerate asmany testable hypotheses. 
Biography of Gordon Allport
Gordon Willard Allport wasbornonNovember 11,1897, inMontezuma, Indiana, 
thefourth andyoungest sonofJohn E.Allport andNellie Wise Allport. Allport’s 
father hadengaged inanumber ofbusiness ventures before becoming aphysician 
atabout thetimeofGordon’s birth. Lacking adequate office andclinical facilities, 
Dr.Allport turned thehousehold intoaminiature hospital. Both patients andnurses 
werefound inthehome, andaclean, sterile atmosphere prevailed. 
Cleanliness ofaction wasextended tocleanliness ofthought. Inhisautobiog -
raphy, Allport (1967) wrote thathisearly life“was marked byplain Protestant piety” 
(p.4).Floyd Allport, hisolder brother by7years, whoalsobecame afamous psy-
chologist, described theirmother asaverypious woman whoplaced heavy emphasis 
onreligion (F.Allport, 1974). Asaformer schoolteacher, shetaught young Gordon 
thevirtues ofclean language andproper conduct aswellastheimportance ofsearch -
ingforultimate religious answers. 
BythetimeGordon was6years old,thefamily hadmoved three times—finally 
settling inCleveland, Ohio. Young Allport developed anearly interest inphilosophi -
calandreligious questions andhadmore facility forwords thanforgames. Infact,
Allport wasevenbullied asaboyforbeing a“human dictionary” (Schustack &Fried -
man, 2008, p.201). Hedescribed himself asasocial “isolate” whofashioned hisown
circle ofactivities. Although hegraduated second inhishighschool class of100,he
didnotconsider himself aninspired scholar (Allport, 1967).
Inthefallof1915, Allport entered Harvard, following inthefootsteps ofhis
brother Floyd, whohadgraduated 2years earlier andwhoatthattimewasagraduate 
assistant inpsychology. Inhisautobiography, Gordon Allport (1967) wrote: “Almost 
overnight myworld wasremade. Mybasic moral values, tobesure, hadbeen fash-
ioned athome. What wasnewwasthehorizon ofintellect andculture Iwasnow
invited toexplore” (p.5).Hisenrollment atHarvard alsomarked thebeginning of
a50-year association withthatuniversity, which wasonlytwice briefly interrupted. 
When hereceived hisbachelor’s degree in1919 withamajor inphilosophy and
economics, hewasstilluncertain about afuture career. Hehadtaken undergradu -
atecourses inpsychology andsocial ethics, andbothdisciplines hadmade alasting 
impression onhim.When hereceived anopportunity toteach inTurkey, hesawitas
achance tofindoutwhether hewould enjoy teaching. Hespent theacademic year
1919–1920 inEurope teaching English andsociology atRobert College inIstanbul.
While inTurkey, Allport wasoffered afellowship forgraduate study atHar-
vard. Healsoreceived aninvitation from hisbrother Fayette tostaywithhimin
Vienna, where Fayette wasworking fortheU.S.trade commission. InVienna, Allport 
hadthemeeting withSigmund Freud thatwebriefly described intheintroduction toFinal PDF to printer