The topic for the term paper is The Application of Personality Theories. You will select one particular area where personality theories have applied relevance, and conduct interviews with two people to explore this application. In this paper, which should be 7 - 10 pages long (plus an Appendix reporting the interviews), you will be expected to:
• Discuss how each of the theoretical perspectives covered in the course applies to the particular applied area that you have selected. (Suggested areas: counseling and psychotherapy; personality development; job-related applications; or other topics by individual approval.)
• Pick two people who agree to be interviewed by you about this applied area (e.g., from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, counseling, or social work, for counseling and psychotherapy; or child care workers, educators, youth workers, or coaches, for development of personality; or managers or business owners for job-related applications).
• Describe how they use personality theory. List the (carefully selected!) questions that you will ask these people in your interview, and explain how these questions relate to the theories we have covered in the course. (The interviewees might refer to some of the theories that we have studied by name, but it is more likely that they will discuss some assumptions about personality without naming a theory. So don't ask them questions like "Which personality theory do you prefer?" Instead, ask content-specific questions, such as "Do you think that a good manager has different expectations than a poor manager?")
• Conduct the interviews and report what these two people say. (You should report the answers in an Appendix at the end of your paper, as fully as you can. Summarize the answers within the paper itself.)
• Evaluate the interviews in terms of personality theories. That is, are the answers consistent with a theory or theories that we have covered in the course? Specifically, how?