For your Final Paper, you will identify and synthesize the concepts and constructs of personality theory that you find to be the most accurate and appropriate in explaining personality and development.

Throughout the course, you have engaged, probed, picked apart, and evaluated the thinking of a large number of theorists who wrote during different historical periods from different disciplinary, paradigmatic, and ideological perspectives. Based on different realms of human experience, the theorists moved toward a fundamental understanding of a single topic and fundamental question: What is the human personality, and, more generally, what makes us what we are as individuals and as a species?

You have already begun this task by identifying what you feel are the most compelling concepts in the first four of the seven theoretical models covered in the course during the Week 3 Primary Concepts assignment. You will continue that process in the first part of this Personality Theory Final Paper by identifying what you find to be the most compelling concepts in the remaining three models. Then you will continue that assessment by synthesizing the concepts of personality that

• Best explains the roles of heredity and environment.
• Provide the best means of assessing personality.
• Provide the best theoretical explanation for your personal journey of personality development.
• Provide the most useful applications for you as a scholar and professional.

Your paper should be organized according to the following scheme, with sections organized under the following APA-formatted headings. Address the following specifications for each heading. (For instructions on writing proper headings and other document elements, see the Ashford University Writing Center’s APA Style Elements (Links to an external site.).)

In your paper, include the following:

Introduction

Start your paper with a general, academic introduction to the topic of theories of personality.

• Explain what you plan to cover and the direction your paper will take.

Major Concepts

In Week 3, you identified what you considered to be the most important concepts from the psychodynamic, the neurobiological, the cognitive, and the trait models of personality. In this section of the Final Paper, you will present a concept from each of the remaining three models— behavioral, interpersonal, and self-psychology models.

For each of these three concepts:

• Apply a proper APA heading to separate the section.
• Describe the concept.
• Identify the theorist associated with the concept.
• Provide a rationale for why the selected concept is the most applicable from that model.

Keep in mind that the object of this assignment is to identify and discuss a specific concept from each model and not to focus on just one model or provide overviews of the models per se.

The Roles of Heredity and Environment

In this class, we have explored the roles heredity, the environment, and epigenetics play in the development of personality. In this section,

• Synthesize your views on how heredity and the environment affect personality development.

Assessment in Personality Theory

In this section, reflect on the various methods for assessing personality that has been presented in this course, and select one that you feel is most useful.

• Describe briefly the assessment method that you believe is most useful in assessing personality.
• Justify your selection of this method.

Personal Applications

In this section of the paper, reflect on your personality, and address the following items:

• Identify which of the seven models best explains your developmental journey.
• Provide at least one specific example of an element or elements of your personality that are explained by your selected model.

Career Applications

In this section, consider how you can use the knowledge from this course as a professional, addressing the following item:

• Explain how you can use the knowledge you have gained about personality development to help achieve your career goals.

Conclusion

Provide a brief conclusion, addressing the following:

• Summarize the ideas presented in your synthesis of, and reflection on, personality theory.

The Personality Theory Final Paper

• Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and must use proper APA headings with all document and citation formatting according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least six scholarly sources in addition to the course text and other required sources to support your conclusions, including at least one scholarly source for each substantive section.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • To assist you in completing the library research required for this assignment, view this Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the Ashford University Library and the research process and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Instructions: There is no paper for this course. You will instead keep a leadership journal consisting of 28 entries based mostly on exercises and assessment. The goal of this journal is your personal assessment, reflection, and improved self-awareness. The more you put into it the more you will get out of it, and the higher grade you will receive. The first submission (Week 3) is to allow you to get initial and early feedback. The final journal, due week 7.  Some assessments are in the book and some are not.

The total journal project is worth 340 total points. The first journal is worth 100 points and the final worth 240 points. You should complete the exercises weekly and submit your entry at the end of weeks 3 and 7. The week 3 journal is to allow you to receive instructor feedback so you can increase your chances of an excellent grade on the final journal submission in week 7.

NOTE: The journal is worth 34% of the total grade in the class. It is critical that you do them throughout the class and avoid procrastination at the end. While they are due at the end of week 3 and week 7, it is be unwise to wait until the last minute to do the exercises. Doing the exercises weekly also reinforces the reading and weekly topics.

Format 

1. You must have an APA cover page and follow usual APA guidelines related to text, double-spacing, citations and references. You are NOT required to cite and reference the exercises from the text or the textbook in this journal. For this class assignment, they are specified and assumed. If you use the text as part of your discussion and reflection in you answer you will need to cite and reference.

2. Follow the headers from this requirements sheet. Use each journal entry header, bold and underlined, in your journal. This is important to facility efficient grading.

3. Save your journal with the schema LastName_FirstName_Journal#. For me it would be Jones_Marshall_Journal 1 for my initial submission.

4. Load to the digital drop box.

5. Your final journal will include entries from your first to create a complete leadership journal. In the event you edit entries from your initial journal for you need to leave the original entry followed by the updated entry highlighted in yellow so the instructor can easily identify edits from the original first journal.

Entry Expectations

IMPORTANT – Unless an entry specifically indicates another expectation, entries must consist of a minimum (to earn a C) of THREE PARAGRAPHS. The first should discuss the assessment or exercise, the second paragraph discusses your results and interpretations, and the last and most important how you can use the information to improve on identified areas needing improvement or how the assessment reinforced what you are doing and why.

INITIAL JOURNAL (due Week 3 – 100 points)

Please complete and submit journal entries 1 through 7 prior to midnight Sunday of week 3. Review the instructions for expectations on format, responses, and file naming. You may also refer to the sample journal. The exercises in the example are not the same as they are from an old class, but it will give you a sample. The first journal is worth 100 points. Each exercise is worth 10 points expect entry one which is worth 20 points. There is also 20 points awarded for overall spelling, grammar, format, and attention-to-detail.

Journal Entry 1: Best Leader I have Experienced (this is NOT in your text)

Think of a person that exemplifies a model of leadership from your life’s experience. Describe their traits and behaviors important to leadership. What traits or behaviors did they possess that made you willing to follow? What examples or model behaviors do you try to emulate that they modeled for you? Please provide at least a full page with three solid paragraphs. (This exercise is worth 20 points).

Journal Entry 2: Self-Assessment 1-1: Leadership Potential (Chapter 1, p. 3-4)

How did you score on this assessment? What does it suggest about your leadership potential? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. Based on this assessment, what areas do you need to work on to improve your leadership skills? How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 3: Self-Assessment 1-2: Managerial Leadership Skills (Chapter 1, p. 8)

How did you score on this assessment? What does it suggest about your managerial leadership skills? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information?  Based on this assessment, what is your preference? How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 4: Self-Assessment 2-1: Big Five Personality Dimensions (Chapter 2, p. 32-33)

How did you score on the five personality dimensions? What does the inventory suggest about those scores? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. What do you consider strengths as well as things that you need to be aware so to avoid potential problems? How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 2-2 on page 42 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness.)

Journal Entry 5: Online Jung Personality Profile (this assessment is not associated with the text. You need to access the test from the web)

Please take the online Jung personality typology test.  What is your Jung typology? What does this score imply? Do you agree with the characteristics frequently associated with each type as they pertain to you? How can you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Journal Entry 6: Self-Assessment 2-3: Motive Profile with Socialized Power (Chapter 2, p. 44)

You will need to refer back to self-assessment 2-1 about the Big Five personality profile to complete this exercise. How did you score on the three needs and socialized power outlined in the assessment? What does the inventory suggest about those scores? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 2-4 on page 45-46 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 2-5 on page 46-47 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 7: Self-Assessment 2-6: How Ethical is Your Behavior? (Chapter 2, p. 50-51)

How did you score on the ethical leadership scale? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. Why do you think you scored as you did? How may you use this information?  (Instructor note: This is included in the journal to insure you think thought ethical behaviors, help with self-assessment, and contemplate areas for potential improvement.) Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Note: Your instructor will also reward points for overall readability and attention-to-detail. 

Your instructor will award up to 20 points for the overall quality of your journal. Specifically, points are awarded for following the instructions and for readability. Points are based on overall attention-to-detail, grammar, spelling, APA formatting, adherence to expectations, and readability. This does not mean points will not be deducted for issues in each entry, but minor issues may be overlooked in your entry and scored here. Make sure you read the instructions carefully, such as naming scheme, and review the sample.

FINAL JOURNAL (due Week 7 – 200 points)

Continue your journal from week 3. ADD to the journal so that the final includes all 28 entries allowing you to retain a complete journal. Your completed journal will have all 28 entries. This will require you to work ahead into week 8 reading to complete the exercises. They are due in week 7 to allow time for your instructor to grade the journals and final exams and post final grades on time. The final journal is worth 240 points.

Journal Entry 8: Self-Assessment 3-1: Your Behavioral Leadership Style (Chapter 3, p. 71-72)

How did you score on the behavioral leadership style inventory? What does the inventory suggest about those scores? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 3-2 on page 78 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 9: Self-Assessment 3-3: Job Motivators and Maintenance Factors (Chapter 3, p. 83-84) 

Are motivator or maintenance factors more important to you? Can you explain why this may be the case? How can you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 10: Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Tests (these are not associated with the text. You need to access the test from the web)

Please go to the web and complete the three emotional intelligence (EQ) tests below. What does each say about your EQ? Do the tests seem more similar or different in how they explore your EQ? How can you use this information in your daily interactions with others?  This response will likely require more than the typical three paragraphs to complete.

Global Leadership Foundation’s Global Emotional Intelligence Test (GEIT)

https://globalleadershipfoundation.com/geit/eitest.html

Institute for Health and Human Potential EQ Quiz:

Memorado EQ Test:

https://memorado.com/emotional_quotient

(EQ Note: If you are interested, you can find much more detailed scales online for free or for a small fee. If you do other EQ tests, please report on them in your journal as well. It is always helpful for you to journal about them and it helps instructors identify other scales.)

(Instructor Note: There are external links. Should you experience a broken link please email your instructor and complete the other two. If more than one is broken, then wait for the instructor to reply. Remember, before you give up on a link, try another browser.)

Journal Entry 11: Self-Assessment 4-1: Leadership Style Your Fielder LPC (Chapter 4, p.113) 

Are you primarily a task or relationship-centered leader? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 4-2 on page 132-133 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 12: Self-Assessment 4-3: Determining Your Preferred Normative Leadership Style (Chapter 4, p.136-139) 

What does the assessment suggest is your preferred leadership style? What does your preferred style result imply? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 4-4 on page 141 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 5-1 on page 152 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 13: Self-Assessment 5-2: Use of Political Behavior (Chapter 5, p.153-154) 

What does the assessment suggest is your use of political behavior? Do you use them all or have a preference. What does imply about you political behavior? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information?  Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 14: Self-Assessment 5-3: Networking (Chapter 5, p.159) 

Does this assessment suggest you are an effective or ineffective networker? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information to improve, or maintain, your networking skills? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 15: Self-Assessment 5-4: Negotiating (Chapter 5, p.165) 

Does this assessment suggest you are an effective or ineffective negotiator? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information to improve, or maintain, your negotiation skills? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 16: Online Learning Style Inventories (these assessments are not associated with the text. You need to access the test from the web)

Complete the below online learning style inventories. Report your results to each. Discuss how they are similar or different. What did you learn about your preferred learning style? How can you use this information? This response will likely require more than the typical three paragraphs to complete.

1. http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml
2. https://www.webtools.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/

Journal Entry 17: Self-Assessment 6-1: Listening Skills (Chapter 6, p.188) 

The instructions ask and have at least two trusted friends of colleagues participate in this assessment. It is important that you do so as it can be very revealing. Please do not shortchange yourself. How did you score on your assessment? How did your friends or colleagues score compare to yours? Based on these scores would you assess you are self-aware of your listening skills? How may you use this information?

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 6-2 on page 209 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 18: Self-Assessment 6-3: Determining Your Preferred Communication Style (Chapter 6, p.215-218) 

What is your preferred communication style according to the assessment? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 19: Self-Assessment 7-1: Dyadic Relationship with Your Manager (Chapter 7, p.233-234) 

What does the assessment suggest about your relationship with your supervisor? Please complete Self-Assessment 7-2 (p. 238) and Self-Assessment 7-3 (p 239). What do these two assessments, both related to Self-Assessment 7-1, suggest about your LMX? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 20: Self-Assessment 7-4: Effective Followers (Chapter 7, p.243) 

What does the assessment suggest about you as a follower? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 7-5 on page 251 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 21: Self-Assessment 8-1: Assessing Teamwork in Your Group (Chapter 8, p.274) 

Describe a team and team experience you will use to complete this assessment. What does the assessment suggest about the team experience you decided to assess? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 8-2 on page 282 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 8-3 on page 288 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 22: Self-Assessment 9-1: Are You More of a Transformational Leader? (Chapter 9, p.329) 

What does the assessment suggest about transformational leadership? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

Journal Entry 23: Social Intelligence (SQ) Test (these are not associated with the text. You need to access the test from the web)

Please go to the web and complete the two social intelligence (SQ) tests below. What does each report about your SQ? How do you interpret these results? Do the tests seem more similar or different in how they explore your EQ? How can you use this information in your daily interactions with others? This response will likely require more than the typical three paragraphs to complete.

The Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale

http://www.psytoolkit.org/cgi-bin/psy2.3.2/survey?s=x8jXG

(D.H. Silvera, M. Martinussen, & T. I. Dahl. (2001). The Tromsø Social Intelligence Scale, a self-report measure of social intelligence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 42, 313-319.)

Lab in the Wild Social Intelligence Test

http://socialintelligence.labinthewild.org/mite/

(Instructor Note: There are external links. Should you experience a broken link please email your instructor and complete the other two. If more than one is broken, then wait for the instructor to reply. Remember – before you give up on a link try another browser.)

Journal Entry 24: Self-Assessment 9-2: Are You More Charismatic, Transformational, or Both? (Chapter 9, p.341-342) 

What does the assessment suggest regarding if you are a charismatic or transformational leadership? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 9-3 on page 345 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 25: Self-Assessment 10-1: Personal Values (Chapter 10, p. 372) 

What are your top three values in the assessment? Are you putting in the time and effort to achieve the level of success you want in each of these areas? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 10-2 on pages 382-383 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 26: Self-Assessment 11-1: Strategic Leader? (Chapter 11, p. 398) 

What does the assessment suggest about your strategic leadership? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 11-2 on page 418 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

Journal Entry 27: Self-Assessment 12-1: Learning Organizations (Chapter 12, p. 446) 

Describe an organization you have been a member. What does the assessment suggest about that organizational in terms of learning? Discuss if you agree or disagree and why. How may you use this information? Remember the three paragraph minimum expectation as outlined in the instructions.

(Note: We are skipping Self-Assessment 12-2 on page 452 for purposes of your journal. It is valuable information but not all text assessments are required. You are welcome, and encouraged, to complete the assessment for self-awareness)

(Final) Journal Entry 28: What lesson about yourself and leadership can you take away from the class and apply in your life? 

Please summarize what you have learned yourself and leadership can you take away from the class and apply in your life? Please take time to reflect, discuss, and provide at least one page of discussion on what you learned from the class or what leadership related behaviors or trait you possess that were reinforced. This exercise is worth 20 points.

Note: Your instructor will also reward points for overall readability and attention-to-detail. 

Your instructor will award up to 20 points for the overall quality of your journal. Specifically, points are awarded for following the instructions and for readability. Points are based on overall attention-to-detail, grammar, spelling, APA formatting, adherence to expectations, and readability. This does not mean points will not be deducted for issues in each entry, but minor issues may be overlooked in your entry and scored here. Make sure you read the instructions carefully, such as naming scheme, and review the sample.