Psychological Analysis of a Character from a Movie, TV Show or Book

Character Description

Understanding the personality of: (person in a movie, tv show or book i.e. Mother Teresa 1. Choose a character from a movie, tv or book whose personalit6 you would like to assess. Pick (3) chapters from the following list to develop your analysis.

 

It is probably best to pick chapters about which you have the best information but you can be creative in making up some information if it shows you understand the concepts used and you explain what you are doing.

 

1. Chapter 1: Trait approach, biological approach, psychoanalytic approach, phenomenological approach, learning and cognitive approaches (Use table 1.1 as reference) 2. Chapter 2: Reported data )

 

3. Chapter 3: Choose this chapter if the person has had her/his personality tested? If so, what type of test was performed? What do you think about those results? Ethical considerations related to this data reported on that person?

 

4. Chapter 4: Person in situation: what are the personality characteristics of the person you are analyzing (traits)— Describe the context in which this person developed or manifested those traits. What determines best his/her behavior (traits, environment or both?). What makes this person similar to other people, but yet UNIQUE?

 

5. Chapter 5: How has this person’s personality been judged by you and by society (if real). Are there any consequences you can observe/describe based on his/her personality (i.e. opportunities, expectancies). Is that person transparent (transparent self).

 

Does the person know his/herself (display a level of self-knowledge or self-awareness)? Do you think your observation and observations of others are accurate? (talk about the philosophy of constructivism and critical realism)?

 

6. Chapter 6: Can you describe the person’s behavior based on 1 trait and the behaviors that are correlated to that trait? Do you prefer to use the Big 5 trait approach to describe that person’s behavior?

 

7. Chapter 7: How do you describe that person’s personality over time and development? Is his/her personality stable, developing or changing? What are the indicators of evidence? Is there a narrative the person tells about her or his own life (actor, agent, author)? Sociometric indicators.

 

8. Chapter 8: Indicators of how the person’s physiology impacts on their personality—

 

9.Chapter 9: Genetics. What can you say about the person’s genes in relationship to his/her personality—self-esteem--- depression—reproductive instincts---

 

10. Chapter 10: Personality development through the psychosexual stages--- (you can combine these ideas with personality development Chapter 7)— psychic determinism, internal structure of the mind, psychological conflict, mental energy. Motivation: sexual drive and Thanatos.

 

Instructions For Writing The Paper:

 

1) Begin with an Introductory paragraph briefly discussing what you will be presenting in the paper.

 

2) In a second paragraph describe the character including some background information like gender, age, life circumstances and include all of the actions and comments of the character that you will use below to make your analyses.

 

3) In a third paragraph, describe the character from the first theoretical perspective or area of psychology of personality that you choose. Make sure to refer to the information about the character that you presented in the second paragraph.

 

4) In the fourth paragraph, describe the character from the second theoretical perspective or area of psychology of personality you choose. Make sure to refer to the information about the character that you presented in the second paragraph.

 

5) In the fifth paragraph, describe the character from the third theoretical perspective or area of psychology of personality you choose. Make sure to refer to the information about the character that you presented in the second paragraph.

 

6) In paragraph six, compare the analyses you made in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5. What were the strengths of using each point of view and what were the weaknesses? Do you believe that one way of looking at the person is more useful than the other?

 

7) End with a summary paragraph where you discuss what you did and what you concluded in your paper. Be sure to include references to the book and course materials. You must use APA style for in text citations and a reference page (you do not need a title page nor abstract). ( I will be adding the textbook) PLEASE be sure to answer every question in depth!