Welcome to our collection of insightful quotes by Gordon W. Allport, a pioneering figure in psychology renowned for his contributions to the study of personality and social psychology. Gordon Willard Allport, born in 1897, was an influential American psychologist whose work significantly shaped the understanding of human behavior and personality. Throughout his distinguished career, Allport delved into various aspects of human psychology, exploring topics such as prejudice, attitude formation, and the nature of individual differences.
Allport’s enduring legacy lies in his emphasis on the uniqueness of each individual and the complexity of human personality. He believed that understanding the intricacies of personality was essential for comprehending human behavior and interactions. Through his research and writings, Allport emphasized the importance of studying individuals in their entirety, rather than reducing them to simple categories or labels. His holistic approach to psychology continues to inspire scholars and practitioners in the field, shaping contemporary understandings of personality and social dynamics. Below, you will find a selection of Gordon W. Allport’s thought-provoking quotes, offering insights into the complexities of human nature and the dynamics of social behavior.
Each person is an idiom unto himself, an apparent violation of the syntax of the species. Gordon W. Allport
Mature striving is linked to long-range goals. Thus, the process of becoming is largely a matter of organizing transitory impulses into a pattern of striving and interest in which the element of self-awareness plays a large part. Gordon W. Allport
The surest way to lose truth is to pretend that one already wholly possesses it. Gordon W. Allport
No corner of the world is free from group scorn. Gordon W. Allport
Dogmatism makes for scientific anemia. Gordon W. Allport
It takes a major unhappiness, a prolonged and bitter experience, to drive us away from loyalties once formed. And sometimes no amount of punishment can make us repudiate our loyalty. Gordon W. Allport
It is not that we have class prejudice, but only that we find comfort and ease in our own class. And normally there are plenty of people of our own class, or race, or religion to play, live, and eat with, and to marry. Gordon W. Allport
Open-mindedness is considered to be a virtue. But, strictly speaking, it cannot occur. A new experience must be redacted into old categories. We cannot handle each event freshly in its own right. If we did so, of what use would past experience be? Gordon W. Allport
What is familiar tends to become a value. Gordon W. Allport
Scarcely anyone ever wants to be anybody else. However handicapped or unhappy he feels himself, he would not change places with other more fortunate mortals. Gordon W. Allport
To a considerable degree, all minority groups suffer from the same state of marginality with its haunting consequences of insecurity, conflict, and irritation. Gordon W. Allport
Self-love, it is obvious, remains always positive and active in our natures. Gordon W. Allport
The primary problem in the psychology of becoming is to account for the transformation by which the unsocialized infant becomes an adult with structured loves, hates, loyalties, and interests, capable of taking his place in a complexly ordered society. Gordon W. Allport
So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword other than laughter. Gordon W. Allport
A prejudice, unlike a simple misconception, is actively resistant to all evidence that would unseat it. Gordon W. Allport
As partisans of our own way of life, we cannot help thinking in a partisan manner. Gordon W. Allport
The outlines of the needed psychology of becoming can be discovered by looking within ourselves; for it is knowledge of our own uniqueness that supplies the first, and probably the best, hints for acquiring orderly knowledge of others. Gordon W. Allport
We cannot know the young child’s personality by studying his systems of interest, for his attention is as yet too labile, his reactions impulsive, and interests unformed. From adolescence onward, however, the surest clue to personality is the hierarchy of interests, including the loves and loyalties of adult life. Gordon W. Allport
Personality is less a finished product than a transitive process. While it has some stable features, it is at the same time continually undergoing change. Gordon W. Allport