Cloninger, S. (2019). Theories of personality: Understanding persons (7th ed.) Pearson.
This week we will begin work on the Week 6 Illustrative Biography by selecting and describing aspects of the life of the subject you will profile. The final paper/presentation is the primary assignment in this course and it is a modified version of the Illustrative Biographies you have seen in the text book. The primary difference is that you are free and even encouraged to use theoretical concepts from any and all of the theories covered in the book. (Noteyou are encouraged not to use the Buddhist chapter as it is more of a philosophy than a personality theory and will therefore be more difficult to apply to this assignment.).
For the final assignment, you will be identifying a famous person and creating an illustrative biography using concepts from the theories presented in this course. This week we begin by researching the person’s biographical information. Search specifically for environmental factors and experiences that have played a role in the subject’s personality development. Use a scholarly/academic source for each of the following aspects of the subject’s personality.
Adjustment and Adaptation
Cognition
Culture
Biology
These four areas are outlined in section 1.3 of your text book. This also loosely reflects the organization of the Illustrative Biographies provided in the text. Take care to choose a person of substance who has had an impact on many, whether for good or evil. It could be a celebrity such as Aretha Franklin, a sports figure such as Magic Johnson, or a political figure such as Lincoln or Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). These are examples; select someone you really want to learn more about. Other suggestions include:
Vladimir Putin
Elon Musk
—– Steve Jobs – I CHOOSE STEVE JOBS
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Tom Brady
Cult leader Jim Jones
Ruth Bader Ginsberg
These subjects cannot be used in your paper:
Chapter 2: Freud: Illustrative Biography: Adolf Hitler
Chapter 3: Jung: Illustrative Biography: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Chapter 4: Adler: Illustrative Biography: Malala Yousafzai
Chapter 5: Erikson: Illustrative Biography: Mahatma Gandhi
Chapter 6: Horney and Relational Theory: Illustrative Biography: Marilyn Monroe
Chapter 7: Allport: Illustrative Biography: Mother Teresa
Chapter 8: Two Factor Analytic Trait Theories: Illustrative Biography: Sonia Sotomayor
Chapter 9: Biological Theories: Serena Williams
Chapter 10: The Challenge of Behaviorism: Tiger Woods
Chapter 11: Kelly: Richard Nixon
Chapter 12: Mischel: Frida Kahlo
Chapter 13: Bandura: Barack Obama
Chapter 14: Rogers: Illustrative Biography: Maya Angelou
Chapter 15: Maslow and His Legacy: George Harrison
****ASSIGNMENT
This week you will begin to craft your final assignment by writing about the life and personality of your selected subject. The paper must address the following sections. Please use the following section headers.
Introduction
Identify the famous person you have chosen to feature in your illustrative biography. Provide a brief overview of their life.
Identify at least three credible sources that you will use to develop your biography.
Adjustment and Adaptation
Describe how your chosen subject has adapted to their life circumstances. Do you see a healthy or an unhealthy adjustment in personality? Note that this will be totally dependent on the subject that you have chosen. For example, if you choose Jeffrey Dahmer, then the adjustment and adaptation will clearly fall into the unhealthy category.
Cognition
Describe the role of cognition in the subjects life. From your research, how did this person think? Were they emotional or cerebral? How did clear or faulty thinking factor into their personality?
Culture
Describe the cultural context of your subjects life. What role did culture play in the development of their personality?
Biology
Describe the biological factors were at play in your subjects life. For example, if you choose Michael J. Fox, his Parkinsons disease would be a major biological factor in his adult personality.
The Subject of the Illustrative Biography paper
Must be three to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style
