Exploring Personality Theories
Description
In this assignment, you will define and apply various personality theories to your personal life experiences. The assignment consists of two parts. Be sure to complete both parts.
Background
In psychology, personality theorists have sought to understand the traits and other factors that determine our very nature. Some of these factors are innate, and others seem to be shaped by environmental forces. Each theory takes a different approach to understanding personality. Familiarity with theories of personality will help you to understand and organize behaviors that you observe in others and yourself.
Instructions
Part I: Apply each of the four personality theories to your personal life experience by answering the following questions.
- The Five Factor Model of Personality: Explain where you fall on each of the five dimensions or traits in this theory. Discuss whether you feel you were "born with" this trait or if you feel this trait developed through experiences in your environment (such as family experiences or other learning experiences). Based on your experience, explain whether personality traits are primarily biological (innate) or environmental (learned) (Nature vs. Nurture).
- Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory: Describe how social learning theory played an influence in your own personality development. Identify whose behavior you modeled and provide specific details to describe the ways in which their behavior influenced you.
- Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Identify which stage of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs you are currently experiencing. Explain which level you hope to experience in the future.
- Freudian Theory of Personality Structure: Regarding your own personality functioning, provide an example of how your own Id, Ego, and Superego might all work together to help you meet your needs and have a successful life. Many contemporary psychologists disagree with Freud, and do not believe that the unconscious mind plays an important role in every day behavior. Based on your readings in psychology, as well as your own experiences, do you believe that the unconscious mind is important in everyday life? Why or why not?
Your response should be a 3-4-page Microsoft Word document written in a clear, concise, and organized manner. Be sure to demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources (i.e., APA); and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. For help citing sources, click on Academic Resources under Course Home.
Part II: Psychological Autobiography
In this course, you have applied several theories and concepts from psychology to your own life. In this part, you will re-write the Autobiography submitted in Module 1 using the material you explored throughout the course.
In your Psychological Autobiography, describe your life in a way that incorporates 12-15 terms and concepts you learned in this class. You do not need to analyze your struggles in this assignment, or disclose sensitive material. The purpose of the assignment is to simply apply the concepts we explored throughout the course to your own life history in an everyday manner.
In your Psychological Autobiography, you may use any terms, research, concepts, or theories covered in class, however, you must use terms and ideas from at least five of the following theorists or perspectives:
Piaget
Erikson
Kohlberg
Eysenck
Bandura
Maslow
Freud
There is room for creativity in this assignment! What is most important is that you show the instructor how much you have learned in this course by applying several theories, terms, or concepts to your life story. At a minimum, you should use information from your lectures and readings in this portion of the paper. This portion of the LASA assignment should be 2-3 pages in length. Here are some suggestions for developing your Psychological Autobiography:
- Write your life history according to one or more of the developmental stage theories.
- Apply key concepts to your early development.
- Explain how the concepts apply to your current life situation.