Psychology Personality v

Overview
The final project for this course is the creation of a final paper describing the evolution of personality theory from Freud to the present day. You will demonstrate your knowledge of advances in personality theory by comparing perspectives of the different theorists discussed in this course. You will apply analytical skills in assessing psychology research and integrating information from peer-reviewed articles. You will demonstrate your ability to apply theories by discussing normal personality development and personality problems and by predicting the impact of the growing use of social media on personality.

The project is supported by two milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Three and Five. The final submission will occur in Module Seven.

Prompt
Your final paper should answer the following prompt: How has the theory of personality evolved from the work of Freud to the present day? Based on your understanding of the different theories, what impact will the growing use of social media have on personality? Begin your discussion with a summary of your work from the short paper in Module Three to compare Freud and Jung’s perspectives with those of Adler and Erickson. Then expand the discussion of personality theory development to consider the influences of feminist theory and the contemporary theorists Rotter, Zuckerman and Seligman. Predict the impact of the growing use of social media on personality. Throughout the paper, use the analytical skills that you developed from the article critique (Module Five) to integrate information from peer-reviewed articles to support your discussion.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Foundations of Personality Theory – Freud and Jung
a. What are the similarities between the perspectives of Freud and Jung?
b. What are the differences between the perspectives of Freud and Jung?

II. Foundations of Personality Theory – Adler and Erickson
a. What are the principles of Adler’s theory?
b. What are the principles of Erickson’s theory?
c. What are the key similarities, including applicability across different times and cultures, among the personality theories of Freud, Jung, Adler, and

Erickson?

III. Twentieth-Century Personality Theories – Principles
a. Describe the principles of Feminist theory.
b. Describe the principles of Rotter’s theory.
c. Describe the principles of Zuckerman’s theory.
d. Describe the principles of Seligman’s theory.
e. Compare the concepts of twentieth-century theorists to each other.
f. Given the time period and circumstances in which these theories were introduced, what contributions did they introduce to the overall field of personality

theory?

IV. Evolution of Personality Theory and Research
a. Compare the key concepts of twentieth-century theorists to those of their predecessors, Freud, Jung, Adler, and Erickson.
b. How has personality research incorporated:
i. Ethics?
ii. Individual differences?
iii. Cultural differences?

V. Implications of Technology in the Twenty-First Century: The twenty-first century has ushered in a major technological era which some argue disconnects us

from one another by eliminating physical interaction. What is the impact of technology in general and social media in particular? Discuss:
a. The impact of technology and social media on personality development to date
b. Your predictions of how technology and use of social media will influence personality research in the future