The Trait Model of Personality
Humanities
The Trait Model of Personality
[WLOs: 2, 3] [CLOs: 1, 5]
Prior to beginning work on this assignment,
- Read Chapter 8 in the course textbook.
- Read the article Stability of Personality Traits in Adulthood: Mechanisms and Implications (Allemand, Steiger, & Hill, 2013).
- Go to the Truity (n.d.) The Big Five Personality Test (Links to an external site.), and complete the free, confidential personality test that is based on the big five theory. The results of this test may be used to aid in the completion of this assignment. Note that you do not need to register or provide personal information to obtain your results from this website.
After you have completed the assessment, click the No, just give me my results link. This link will take you to a page that will tell you how you scored on each of the five traits in the big five theory.
In addition to the required sources, go to the Ashford University Library and research a minimum of one scholarly source on the trait model of personality (part one of the paper) and one scholarly resource on the big five theory of personality (part two of the paper).
All required and outside sources should be properly cited in your paper.
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.
This assignment has two parts. In the first part,
- Provide an overview of the trait model of personality in which you identify at least one principal theory and its theorist (i.e., Allport, Cattell, or Eysenck) associated with the model. (Please note that the trait model is more than just the big five—this part of the paper should cover the general history and evolution of the model.)
- Compare and contrast the basic assumptions of the trait model and the psychodynamic model regarding the theorist’s explanations of personality development.
- Use the scholarly sources you researched for this assignment as well as this week’s required sources to support your statements.
In the second part of your paper,
- Describe each of the five traits included in the big five model:
- extroversion,
- agreeableness,
- conscientiousness,
- neuroticism, and
- openness to experience.
(This section demonstrates your understanding of the theory, so do not just copy and paste the explanations provided on the Truity website.)
- Reflect on your results from the test, on each of the five traits.
- Use the scholarly sources you researched for this assignment as well as this week’s required sources to support your statements.
The Trait Model of Personality paper
- Must be five to six double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) resource.
- Must include a separate title page with the following:
- Title of paper
- Student’s name
- Course name and number
- Instructor’s name
- Date submitted
For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).
- 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 two scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
- 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 references 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 (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
