WRITING A PERSONALITY SELF-ANALYSIS PAPER

WRITING A PERSONALITY SELF-ANALYSIS PAPER How did you develop your personality? What forces shaped your “MIND” and caused you to think, feel and act as you do? What do psychological theories reveal about forces that influenced your development? The study of psychological theories gives us clues and insights into our own behavior. Having studied the major theories of human development and personality, you should be able to write an interesting ” psychological review” of your life including some of the psychodynamic, behavioral, psychosocial and humanistic influences that molded your “PSYCHE”. Include some of the following forces and influences described by major developmental psychologists that shaped your personality and self-concept and affect the way you feel, think and behave. Enjoy reflecting on your life and integrating it with all you have learned from your other psychology courses. You should include at least one of the following perspectives we have studied to help explain your psychological development. A. Psychodynamic Influences 1.Psychosexual character development in the first five years according to Freud’s oral, anal and phallic stages. (personality characteristics, fixations, conflicts, etc.) 2.Defense mechanisms acquired to reduce anxiety and deal with ego threats 3. Adler’s understanding of birth order influences on striving for power and superiority B. Psychosocial Influences 1. “Significant others” and their influence on you. 2. Psychosocial crises in Erikson’s developmental stages. 3. Significant events, crises or successes that influenced your growth. 4. “Scripts” your parents may have written for you. 5. Lack of family support or family problems. May include lack or loss of nourishment, possessions, companionship, abuse or other important family dynamics. 6. Feelings of inferiority or superiority as a child (physical, social or intellectual.) C. Humanistic Influences 1. People who loved you and nourished your growth unconditionally. 2. People who rejected you and gave you criticism or harsh punishment. 3. Your self-concept, your feelings of self-worth, and persons who influenced your self-concept growth and self-acceptance or self-rejection. 4. Self-Actualization process and influences, positive and negative. 5.”Peak” experiences or other experiences of self-knowledge or self-realization. 6.Your “Authentic Self” – development of expression of your creative unique self. D. Behavioral Influences 1. Behavioral training including positive and negative reinforcements from parents, teachers and significant others. 2. The cultural and historical “shapers” or influences when you were growing up. 3. The “scripts” your parents had for you from the day they named you. 4. Aversive Conditioning – Behaviors developed to avoid punishment or rejection. 5. Positive Reinforcements – Behaviors developed to gain attention, recognition, rewards and love. You may be creative and develop your personality analysis from one perspective (e.g. Freud), chronologically (e.g. Erikson’s stages) or thematically (e.g. focus on a trait, problem or success). This is NOT an autobiography (life story of events), but a psychobiography describing how your mind, personality and behavioral tendencies were developed and the forces that created your unique self. Enjoy using the fascinating theories of psychology to gain insight into your mind and behavior! PAPER FORMAT 1. Include a title page with your name, Psychology of Personality , PSYC 307, Instructor Name, Cheryl Blackman, Ph.D. Use a “creative” title for your personality analysis that reflects a “theme” of your paper. 2. Use no larger than 1 inch margins and 12 level fonts in your paper. Please number your pages. 3. Attach any personality “research” that supports your paper including online profiles, personality tests you have taken, or personality research that may relate directly to your paper to substantiate key data or themes. 4. You must use spelling and grammar checks on your computer. Papers with spelling and grammatical errors will lose points. 5. Begin your paper with your theme and end with concluding remarks. Use correct paragraphing and avoid run-on sentences. Keep your verb tenses consistent and avoid sentence fragments. Use apostrophes and commas correctly. Do not end sentences with prepositions and avoid writing that is too informal or slangy in a college-level paper. 8. Late papers will have 5 points subtracted for every day late.