Allport rejected group-level theorizing and missed the social identity revolution

Evidence

But Allport was critical of this perspective, commenting that “there is something unnecessarily ‘collectivistic’ about the theory” (p. 40). He acknowledged that prejudice could be, in part, a “mass phenomenon,” but he preferred to emphasize the “individual play of attitudes.” Within the next two decades, the work of Tajfel and his colleagues (e.g., Tajfel & Turner, 1979) on Social Identity Theory transformed the field with its emphasis on group-level processes as qualitatively distinct from individual-level processes. Allport did not see it coming. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 151

Allport did acknowledge the possibility of the unique quality of group identity relative to personal identity. For example, on page 40 he quoted Sherif and Sherif (1953), who said, “Ordinarily the factors leading individuals to form attitudes of prejudice are not piecemeal. Rather, their formation is functionally related to becoming a group member – to adopting the group and its values (norms) as the main anchorage in regulating experience and behavior” (p. 218). But Allport was critical of this perspective, commenting that “there is something unnecessarily ‘collectivistic’ about the theory” (p. 40). He acknowledged that prejudice could be, in part, a “mass phenomenon,” but he preferred to emphasize the “individual play of attitudes.” Within the next two decades, the work of Tajfel and his colleagues (e.g., Tajfel & Turner, 1979) on Social Identity Theory transformed the field with its emphasis on group-level processes as qualitatively distinct from individual-level processes. Allport did not see it coming. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 151

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader interest in how foundational theories contain blind spots that later paradigms exploit — parallels the eclipse of other grand theories by later frameworks.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 151; John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 151