Gordon Allport's Psychodynamic Research

Gordon Allport disapproved of how most theories of psychology fixated on the past instead of looking at the present or future for insight into the development of personality. Allport also found the concepts of psychoanalysis as overly limiting to the study of personality as it fixated mostly on the unconscious and not nearly enough on conscious motivation (Cloninger, 2013). Instead, he took an alternate approach to studying personality, thus creating personological and humanistic psychology, which centers around the idea that a person is a unified and conscious whole. Clearly, Freud and Allport had differing opinions with regard to the fundamental autonomy of motivation.
Unlike Freud, Allport did not believe that a person’s childhood would …show more content…
For example, a professional athlete may have started in a particular sport because they thought it would be fun or because their parents made them. Regardless of origin, they probably weren’t very good at the sport in the very beginning; in order to become better, they had to practice. In the duration of their training, they more than likely saw that some of the top competitors in the sport receiving praise or recognition for their achievements, pushing them to train even harder so that they could receive the same type of recognition as their competitors. Although such intensive training may be difficult at times, both physically and mentally, the athlete develops a love and appreciation for the sport in the process. Even when they retire from competition, an athlete may keep trophies or awards around the house to remember their achievements, regardless of how many years have passed, and they may still have an urge to continue with the sport in another way, either as a hobby or perhaps in coaching future competitors. Ultimately, what starts out as a motivation of necessity turns into self-motivation and, eventually, becoming a sentimental form of