A psychobiography is the answer to the question, Why is this person like he/she is? Psychobiography uses explanation and interpretation of the events, relationships, attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of a persons life to explain the person they are today (or the person they were before they died). In other words, psychobiography looks at the persons whole life in an effort to understand their personality. Psychobiography is not only biographybiographical information is included, but as part of the whole. In biography the aim is to tell the story of a life; in psychobiography the aim is to make sense of or understand a life. Another important pointpsychobiography is NOT about diagnosing a person. While you may report a diagnosis they were given by a qualified physician, you are not to make diagnosis of mental problems the point of your paper. Write a short biography of the person from childhood to his or her death. This should include the high and low points of the persons experiences. This section should clearly set the stage for the theory that you choose in Section 2. This section should be no more than two pages. Choose one of the personality theorists from your text book and using specific concepts and ideas from his/her theory, trace the personality development of the person you have chosen. o Being specific about the concept or concepts you are using is important .For example, if you are using Freud as your theorist, you might trace the resolution of the Odedipus Complex for the person you have chosen. **Please be very clear when you are moving from section 2 to section 3 in your paperuse section labels. If it is not clear that you have moved to section 3, I cant give you credit for it.** Choose one of the following psychological concepts and trace the development of this concept from the persons childhood to adulthood. In other words, you should take the concept and trace it from its roots in childhood to its culmination in adulthood. You should use specific examples from the persons life AND different theorists to explain how this concept has developed in the person. Remember that you are tracking these as an aspect of the person, not as an aspect of an environment. Please note that you will be unable to trace the development of this concept if you cannot or do not find out information about the persons childhood. If you cant establish a basis for the concept in the persons childhood, then perhaps you should choose a different concept or a different person to write about. o Aggression o Honesty o Achievement o Aspirations o Anxiety o Motivation o Coping o Delay of gratification o Humor o Sexuality o Creativity o Spirituality o Masculinity/femininity o Shyness o Extraversion o Altruism o Conformity o Peacemaking/beneficence o Empathy o Competition o Inferiority o Sociability
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