fei75766_ch12_377-407.indd 404  02/06/20 12:56 PM
Part IV    Dispositional Theories404
 Concept of Humanity
Allport had a basically optimistic  and hopeful view of human nature. He 
rejected the psychoanalytic and behavioral views of humanity as being too 
deterministic and too mechanistic. He believed that our fates and our traits 
are not determined by unconscious motives originating in early childhood 
but by conscious choices we make in the present. We are not simply autom -
atons blindly reacting to the forces of reward and punishment. Instead, we 
are able to interact with our environment and make it reactive to us. We not 
only seek to reduce tensions but to establish new ones. We desire both 
change and challenge; and we are active, purposive, and flexible.
Because people have the potential to learn a variety of responses in 
many situations, psychological growth can take place at any age. Personal -
ity is not established in early childhood, even though for some people infan -
tile influences remain strong. Early childhood experiences are important only 
to the extent that they exist in the present. Although early security and love 
leave lasting marks, children need more than love: They need an opportunity 
to shape their own existence creatively, to resist conformity, and to be free, 
self-directed individuals.
Although society has some power to mold personality, Allport believed 
that it does not hold the answer to the nature of humanity. The factors shap -
ing personality, Allport held, are not as important as personality itself. Hered -
ity, environment, and the nature of the organism are important; but people 
are essentially proactive and free to follow the prevailing dictates of society 
or to chart their own life course.
People, however, are not completely free. Allport (1961) adopted a 
limited-freedom  approach. He was often critical of those views that allow for 
absolute freedom, but he also opposed the psychoanalytic and behavioral 
views, which he regarded as denying free will. Allport’s position was some -
where in the middle. Although free will exists, some people are more capa -
ble of making choices than are others. A healthy person has more freedom 
than does a child or a severely disturbed adult. The high-intelligent, reflec -
tive person has more capacity for free choice than does the low-intelligent, 
nonreflective one. 
Even though freedom is limited, Allport maintained that it can be 
expanded. The more self-insight a person develops, the greater that per -
son’s freedom of choice. The more objective a person becomes—that is, the 
more the blindfolds of self-concern and egotism are removed—the greater 
that person’s degree of freedom.
Education and knowledge also expand the amount of freedom we 
have. The greater our knowledge is of a particular arena, the broader our 
freedom in that area. To have a broad general education means that, to 
some extent, one has a wider choice of jobs, recreational activities, reading 
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