ALLPORT'S THEORY

Allport's Trait Theory

                                    

Allport's Trait Theory

This essay will briefly describe both Monica’s housekeeping routine and her relationship with her friends and family in terms of cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits. In addition, I will explain Monica’s behavior and identify which autonomy represents and how does  Monica does or does not fulfill the criteria of normal, mature, and emotional healthy adult according to Allport’s specifications, along with a possible cultural bias. Finally, I will identify and describe which values are likely to be dominant in Monica based on Allport’s Study of Values and how cultural background or gender might contribute to the dominance of these values.

According to Allport’s theory, cardinal traits “are the traits that some people have which practically define their life”. ( Boeree, 2006). Monica’s housekeeping routine in terms of cardinal traits is most likely to be the love for number precision and  “this is a characteristic that she has carried into her housekeeping chores”. ( Case Study: Gordon Allport). Monica’s defined cardinal trait in terms of her relationship with her friends is the fact that her social group is very important for her and she is in constant touch with all of her friends. Monica’s need for socialization define her personality, especially because she gets along better with her friends than her own spouse. As far as her relationship with her family in terms of cardinal traits, Monica can be defined as a great mother, “she takes care of her children’s physical and emotional needs”. ( Case Study: Gordon Allport). On the other hand, her relationship with her husband could be defined as distant and less important to her than the relationship with her friends.

According to Schultz & Schultz ( 2009) , “central traits are the handful of outstanding traits that describe a person’s behavior”. ( p.247). Monica’s housekeeping can be described as perfectionist and almost neurotic, obsessed for the cleaning of her household; she cannot stand clutter in her home. Monica is described by her friends as loyal, warm, supportive, talkative, and with a big heart and a god mom by her children.. The descriptions of Monica’s friends and children about her personality support the idea that “everyone has a few central traits” ( Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.247).

Secondary traits are the less influential and less consistent, characteristics that could only be recognized by an individual’s closest family and friends. In this case Monica’s secondary traits could be her obsession with a perfect, clean household given that “All her friends agree”. (Case Study: Gordon Allport). Monica’s children now how a very dedicate and pragmatic mother she can be, especially for her disabled child, Jenna, making sure her needs are met. Monica also makes sure  her children have fun but they also know she can lose her temper from time to time with them.

Monica is clearly obsessed with a spotless home which she cleans every day without an apparent reward. She chooses to clean and vacuum all rooms of the house every day and does a perfect job, almost as it was her job, but she does not get paid, get gifts, or even compliments from her husband. According to Boeree ( 2006), “perseverative functional autonomy refers essentially to habits -- behaviors that no longer serve their original purpose, but still continue”. (p. 1). This type of behavior is almost an unconscious habit that does not necessarily describe an individual’s personality. Monica’s obsession with cleaning may be due to the education her parents gave her, teaching her to be clean and organized, reinforced by treats as a reward.

At a first glance, we could say Monica is a healthy, mature adult who is always concerned about others, offering her help to those who need it. However, Monica feels her lack of self-realization compared to most of her friends, make her feel insecure and less intelligence than those who attended college. The Case Study describes Monica as  “insecure about not having attended college” (Case Study: Gordon Allport), and although she wants to pursue at least an Associate’s degree in Legal Studies, she is still scare of the big challenge. According to Schultz & Schultz (2009), “ the mature adult’s self-acceptance helps him or her achieve emotional security”, a statement that does not describe how Monica feels about herself. A cultural bias that I noticed in Allport’s theory is the criteria that states a mature adult “makes a commitment to some type of work” ( Schultz & Schultz, 2009). Although financial stability is important in our society, is not the main characteristic of a mature individual in every society in the world.

Monica’s most dominant values are the social influences because she is very concerned about her social life and the relationship with her friends. Monica’s friends “are a very important part of her social support network, especially since she does not have co-workers with whom to interact and because her husband travels a lot for his job”. (Case Study: Gordon Allport). Monica’s lack of assertiveness  and a great concern for others might be due to her gender which is supported by research done on the subject. For instance, “ women tend to score lower than do men on tests measuring assertiveness” ( Schultz & Schultz, 2009), possibly because women are trained not to assert themselves.

In conclusion, this essay briefly describe both Monica’s housekeeping routine and her relationship with her friends and family in terms of cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits. In addition, I explained Monica’s behavior and identify which autonomy represents and how does  Monica does not fulfill the criteria of normal, mature, and emotional healthy adult according to Allport’s specifications, along with a possible cultural bias. Finally, I  identified and described which values are likely to be dominant in Monica based on Allport’s Study of Values and how cultural background or gender contributed to the dominance of these values.

The seven factors that could possibly affect personality are: the genetic factor, environmental factor, learning factor, parental factor, development factor, consciousness factor, and the unconscious factor.

The Genetic Factor

Jung believed “ part of personality is innate, and part learned” (Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.126). Additionally, Eysenck’s theory emphasized  traits of personality are mainly determined by genes and he supported his theory with the study of fraternal and identical twins. Research states identical twins are more alike in their personalities than fraternal twins, even when they are raised in different environments.  McCrae and Costa suggested neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are five biologically based factors, and appear consistently in many cultures.

The Environmental Factor

This factor was acknowledged to have a great influence on personality because culture, parental and peers influence can affect the way an individual may react to the same situations.  Adler did not agree with Freud’s theory on inferiority complex on women.  Instead, he believed  such idea was “ a myth invented by men to maintain their alleged sense of superiority” (Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.153). Consequently, society can have a great influence on gender status, such as Western culture that encourages women to pursue a career and be successful, on top of motherhood and wife status. Allport also added to this theory stating genes are the raw material and the environment shapes them.  

The Learning Factor

Inherited traits of personality can be changed by the process of learning. Bandura’s theory states individuals learn from watching models and we are constantly assuming those behaviors that lead to success and acceptance. Individuals can learn disinhibition, irrational fears, socialization, and ways to cope with issues such as stress and dangerous situations.  Self-efficacy, the ability to control life events, is highly related to perseverance and a high level performance.

The Parental Factor

Allport, Cattell, Erickson, Rogers,  and Maslow emphasized the great influence parents have on their children. I believe Roger’s theory explains in more detail the importance parents play on the development of the self in the childhood. Children who get an unconditional positive regard, especially from the mother, are more likely to become a fully functioning person.  According to Schulz & Schultz (2009), “ characteristics of the fully functional person are an awareness of all experiences, no conditions to defend against, the ability to live fully in each moment, trust in one’s self, a sense for freedom and a personal power, creativity and spontaneity” (p. 342).  Creativity, spontaneity, and freedom can be restricted if the individual belongs to a collectivist society, where these qualities are not allowed and are not socially acceptable.

The Developmental Factor

Freud’s theory states personality is shaped by the age of 5 and that it is difficult to re-shape it afterwards. Although early childhood years are crucial to shape and learn acceptable behavior, theorists such as Cattell, Allport, Erickson and Murray demonstrated personality continues to develop throughout life. In fact, Jung, Cattell, Maslow, and Erickson believed middle age is an important time of personality change. Erickson developed a theory that consisted in age states, that allows “ for the development of basic strengths that emerge from the adaptive ways of coping with the conflicts” ( Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.236).

The Consciousness Factor and Unconscious Factor

Freud and Jung supported the idea the conscious or the ego allow us to interact with the real world. Kelly’s theory believed our ego plays an important role in making choices and he argued “ we form constructs about our environment  and about other people, and that we make predictions about them” ( Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p.478). Freud created an important theory about the unconscious, the hidden place in our minds where we store the darkest thoughts and behaviors not acceptable in our society.  Freud believed repression was one of the defense mechanisms that stops the individual to reveal primitive behavior and unacceptable thoughts.

Intelligence

This essay will describe my personal definition of intelligence and explain how my            cultural frame of reference influences my definition. I will compare my cultural frame of reference for intelligence with another culture’s frame of reference and, I will analyze the two online intelligence tests, identifying strengths and limitations of each of the tests. Last, I will explain why I believe socioeconomic and family have a great influence on intelligence.

I define intelligence as the ability to use knowledge in certain situations, in order to overcome obstacles and survive in a certain cultural context. Without a doubt, I believe people who show high IQ test scores, present a higher ability to learn and remember, have to be considered intelligent. However, “people live in different environments and acquire knowledge and skills necessary to pursue goals and adapt to different cultural settings.” (Shiraev & Levy, p.121).  I definitely believe  intelligence has different meaning in every culture and I depends on the environment the individual lives in. For instance, a boy living in the streets, learns different priorities and acquire the knowledge necessary to survive every day, whereas a girl who has a home and a stable family, is more concerned in learning math skills for her next test at school.

In my culture,  a person is considered intelligent when they have the best grades in school, which it also makes it important what school the child goes to. Public schools are considered to provide lower quality of education, while the best education is provided at private schools; this is the reason why people in my culture believe the children who attend private schools, are smarter and better prepared for college and life, than children who attend regular public schools. Consequently, the higher hierarchy of intelligent people in Argentina, are the college graduates with professions such as doctors, surgeons, and any other career who probes to be the most difficult to study and learn.

Although the definition of intelligence in Argentina is related to a high-level education, the natives living in the North part of the country have a different perspective. Isolated from the rest of the country, these children learn how to survive daily, applying their knowledge to obtain food and build homes. According to Shiraev & Levy (2010), “studies also reveal that children have advanced practical skills that are not recognized on academic tests.” (p.123). Conventional schooling and a college degree are far from reality for these children and are not necessary crucial for their cultural environment

After analyzing the two intelligence tests I found   limitations and  strengths. Both tests limit an accurate intelligence measure because only the culture of the Edward River Community in Far North Queensland and Australian and American societies. The test related to the Edward River Community in Far North Queensland, is an Australian test, however, not all citizens would know all the answers, since it is specific to the Edward River Community. The Australian/American test intelligence can be familiar for most European and Western people, but not the best intelligence test measure for Asia and Africa. For instance, question  6 in  American/Australian test requires “solution of this problem requires ability to count and sort some of concept of codes. “ (The American/Australian Test of Intelligence, 2003). Personally I am not familiar with these concepts and I believe some countries might not be trained to understand concept of codes either. The positive side of the American/Australian intelligence test is that the questions are familiar for most people in the European and Western area; the Original Australian Test of Intelligence is great to measure how knowledgeable Australians who are not from this community and people from the Edward River Community as well as a way to measure how much people from other parts of the world, have a great knowledge of other cultures.

I believe socioeconomic and family factors, have a great influence on intelligence development and high IQ scores. Even though, a great number of individuals have the same potential to learn and remember new things, it has been supported by studies, that those individuals raised in a middle or upper class, has a better chance to obtain higher IQ scores and be “smarter”, because the parents can provide a study environment and tools to succeed as a student. According to Shiraev & Levy (2010), It was found that a child’s IQ and the socioeconomic status of the child’s parents are positively correlated.” (p.130). Children from a lower socioeconomic status might be deprived of nutritional meals and text books required by the school, to develop their intelligence. In addition, some children have to work to help their parents support their families and survive every day.

Family factors also have a great influence on the child’s intellectual potential and in fact, middle-class parents, “are likely to be educated and subsequently have general understanding of the importance of education.” (P.131). On the contrary, poor families have fewer resources and might not have time to stimulate the child’s intellectual potential, but teach them how to secure their food and a home, a priority in their lives.

In conclusion, intelligence is not only how much you remember and the schooling you can have, but the ability to use the knowledge acquired through the years, and adapt them to difficult situations. My cultural frame of reference for intelligence is not the same as other cultural frame of reference because, each environmental context requires different applications of intelligence. The Australian/American and Original Australian test of intelligence can only be applied to the specified cultures for the reason that these “general knowledge” questions might not be so familiar to people in different cultural context. Last, socioeconomic and family factors have been proven to have a great influence on a child’s intellectual potential and development having more resources and access to learning tools and proper schooling.

Methodology

This essay will evaluate the "The Role of Culture in the Representation of Conflict in Dreams: A Comparison of Bedouin, Irish, and Israeli Children”, from the methodology point of view. In addition, the sample selection will be evaluated, whether or not there was bias and what could have been done to prevent this. Data collection process and interpretation of results will also be analyzed to offer suggestions on how to improve the research.

·         Name the independent and dependent variables in the study described in "The Role of Culture in the Representation of Conflict in Dreams: A Comparison of Bedouin, Irish, and Israeli Children"

The independent variable in this study are the  Bedouin, Irish, and Israeli Children because, “Ethnicity, nationality, or other cultural identification of the members of studied groups will typically represent the independent variable.” (Shiraev & Levy, 2010, p.38).                                          

The dependent variable is the conflict in dreams because “the aspect of human activity that is studied and expected to change under influence of the independent variable is called the dependent variable.” (Shiraev & Levy, 2010, p.38).

·         Evaluate the sample selection, and include your thoughts on whether or not there was a bias in the sample selection. If so, explain what might have been done to prevent the bias.

The sample selection was systematic because the psychologists chose children from  three cultures, Irish, Israeli, and Bedouin. The participants were 26 Bedouin children from seminomadic tribe, 24 Israeli children from a large rural area, and 27 Irish children from an isolated fishing village. The first problem I encountered with the study is the number of subjects who participated, a small representative number of each culture. Shiraev & Levy state “the smaller the sample, the greater the sampling error, and the greater the result of chance factors." (p.34). Another bias I believe I found is  that the children were students, a fact that does not make these children representative sample of their culture. Bedouin children constantly move and some of them might not attend school; the Israeli children who participated in this research, are from a large rural area, making them different from other Israeli children living in other areas; the Irish children lived in an isolated village away from any war conflicts. To prevent any bias, I would use random sampling and a larger sample, to lower the sampling error.

·         Evaluate the data collection process and consider any potential problems with how the reports about the dreams were collected. Explain how the data collection process could be improved.

The children were given a copybook to record their dreams on their awakening and were interviewed for 7 successive days.  If necessary, the children were asked details about their dreams. Dreams reports were tape-recorded and later translated. Some potential problems I see with how the reports were collected are the interpreter who interviewed the children, whether the children recorded their dreams every day, and what level of education they had to be able to express what they had dreamed. In order to understand the Bedouin and Israeli children, not only a knowledge of the language is necessary, but their culture as well. If the interpreter was from their respective cultures, how much knowledge of English they had to be able to translate exactly what the children reported of their dreams?. Another question I have is whether the children easily expressed what they wanted to say about their dreams; I wonder if the Bedouin children had as much schooling completed as the Israeli and Irish, since they moved quite often.  The research does not mention the interpreter for the Bedouin and Israeli children, was from the same culture or a person with knowledge of the respective language. According to Shiraev & Levy ( 2010), “one of the most difficult tasks appears before the investigator: to make sure that the translated version of the method is as close to the original version as possible. However, even a well-translated version of a test is always different from the original one.” (p.40). I would use the naturalistic observation to better understand the events the Bedouin, Israeli, and Irish children; I would observe how their family structures are, how much peer influence they have, if they abused at home and as a result there is greater representation of conflicts.

·         Evaluate the interpretation of the results. Explain any problems with how the results were interpreted and offer suggestions to improve the interpretation.

I do not  believe a quantitative method to interpret dreams is the best one to use. First of all, there is an uneven number of girls and boys within each culture and I believe boys see the world and react different than the girls. In addition, the psychologists used a rating method for the dreams that were rated by three individuals, who were trained to use the Conflict Rating Schedule. Although these individuals were naïve as to the country of the children, they based they rating on the transcribed material, being the reason I think the results may not be as accurate. An example of disagreement I had with the interpretation of results, is the one that states “in conflictual dreams, other characters appearing in the dream were less likely to be friends or relatives of the dreamer and more likely to be strangers, as compared to dream participants in nonconflictual dreams.” (Levine, 1991). However, the father and the mother were present in the  conflictual dream described by a Bedouin child; an Irish child described the conflictual dream but never mentioned whether there were strangers or relatives with him. An Israeli child reported a conflictual dream with strangers and his father as well, mentioning “we were planting”, which could mean he was with people he knew too. One of the results caught my attention is the Social Responsibility rate the Bedouin children got, only an 8%. According to Levine, “in this community, a  high value appeared to be place on the welfare of the group as opposed to the individual, as evidenced by the Bedouin’s emphasis on hospitality and the presence of large extended families, which constituted a highly supportive social system.” (Levine, 1991). I would improve the interpretation of results by understanding their culture, making sure I observe everything is not easily noticed at first.

·         Select a method that is different from that used in the survey. Explain how you could study the same topic in the reading by conducting a study using the method you chose.

I would study the same topic using qualitative method because I believe human interactions and emotions, cannot be studied using numbers. Before conducting the survey or interview, I would observe the participants in their natural habitat, so they would feel comfortable answering questions to the researchers. Surveys can be misleading because the children might be highly influenced by adults in their community and could be scared to express their dreams in front of other children and adults. Also, I would choose an application-oriented strategy since one research method might not work for certain cultures. In addition to recording the reports of dreams, I would video-record the participants in order to observe non-verbal language when talking to the researcher. Non-verbal language could say more than the child could verbally express about his dreams.