Personal Dispositions

According to Allport’s psychology of the individual, each person is unique and has a personality that grows and changes. He also believed everyone possesses personal dispositions, which he placed at different levels (cardinal, central, and secondary) based on their importance to a person. You can review these levels of dispositions on pp. 386–387 in Ch. 12 of Theories of Personality. 

In this discussion, you explore how a historical figure embodies the 3 levels of personal dispositions. Select one of the individuals listed below as the focus for your response:

• Mahatma Gandhi
• Vincent Van Gogh
• Mother Teresa
• Abraham Lincoln
• Stephen Hawking
• Albert Einstein
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Nelson Mandela
• Malcolm X
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Marie Curie

Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words: 

• Cardinal traits: What passions, goals, or obsessions are most dominant in your selected individual? How have these cardinal traits contributed to this individual’s motivations or accomplishments? 
• Central traits: If you were to write a letter of recommendation for your selected individual, which traits would you emphasize? 
• Secondary traits: Describe which of these individual’s traits the public may be aware of, but that are not fundamental to understanding this individual’s influence on society. 
• How do you think this individual’s traits influenced his or her career choice?