fei75766_ch12_377-407.indd 389  02/06/20 12:56 PM
Chapter 12    Allport: Psychology of the Individual389
Allport claimed thattheories ofunchanging motives areincomplete because 
theyarelimited toanexplanation ofreactive behavior. Themature person, however, 
isnotmotivated merely toseekpleasure andreduce painbuttoacquire newsystems 
ofmotivation thatarefunctionally independent from theiroriginal motives.
Functional Autonomy
Theconcept offunctional autonomy represents Allport’s most distinctive and,atthe
same time, most controversial postulate. ItisAllport’s (1961) explanation forthe
myriad human motives thatseemingly arenotaccounted forbyhedonistic ordrive-
reduction principles. Functional autonomy represents atheory ofchanging rather 
thanunchanging motives andisthecapstone ofAllport’s ideas onmotivation.
Ingeneral, theconcept offunctional autonomy holds thatsome, butnotall,
human motives arefunctionally independent from theoriginal motive responsible for
thebehavior. Ifamotive isfunctionally autonomous, itistheexplanation forbehav -
ior,andoneneed notlookbeyond itforhidden orprimary causes. Inother words, 
ifhoarding money isafunctionally autonomous motive, thenthemiser’s behavior 
isnottraceable tochildhood experiences withtoilet training orwithrewards and
punishments. Rather, themiser simply likes money, andthisistheonlyexplanation 
necessary. Thisnotion thatmuch human behavior isbased onpresent interests and
onconscious preferences isinharmony withthecommonsense belief ofmany people 
whoholdthattheydothings simply because theyliketodothem.
Functional autonomy isareaction towhat Allport called theories ofunchang -
ingmotives, namely, Freud’s pleasure principle andthedrive-reduction hypothesis 
ofstimulus-response psychology. Allport heldthatboththeories areconcerned with
historical facts rather thanfunctional facts. Hebelieved thatadult motives arebuilt
primarily onconscious, self-sustaining, contemporary systems. Functional auton -
omyrepresents hisattempt toexplain these conscious, self-sustaining contemporary 
motivations.
Admitting thatsome motivations areunconscious andothers aretheresult of
drive reduction, Allport contended that,because some behavior isfunctionally auton -
omous, theories ofunchanging motives areinadequate. Helisted fourrequirements 
ofanadequate theory ofmotivation. Functional autonomy, ofcourse, meets each
criterion.
 1. Anadequate theory ofmotivation “will acknowledge the contemporaneity of 
motives.” Inother words, “Whatever moves usmust move now” (Allport, 
1961, p.220). Thepastperseisunimportant. Thehistory ofanindividual is
significant onlywhen ithasapresent effect onmotivation.
 2. “It will be a pluralistic theory—allowing for motives of many types” (Allport, 
1961, p.221). Onthispoint, Allport wascritical ofFreud andhistwo-
instinct theory, Adler andthesingle striving forsuccess, andalltheories that
emphasize self-actualization astheultimate motive. Allport wasemphatically 
opposed toreducing allhuman motivation toonemaster drive. Hecontended 
thatadults’ motives arebasically different from those ofchildren andthat
themotivations ofneurotic individuals arenotthesame asthose ofnormal 
people. Inaddition, some motivations areconscious, others unconscious; 
some aretransient, others recurring; some areperipheral, others propriate; andFinal PDF to printer