Course Syllabus

Course Outline

I.                 Introduction to Personality Development

a.      What is personality?

b.     Why does it matter?

c.      We are all unique.

II.               The Developing Personality

a.      How do personalities develop?

b.     Multiple theories in psychology.

c.      Three main influences cited:

                                          i.     Heredity

                                          ii.    Environment

                                          iii.    Situations

III.             Stages of Development

a.     Freudian stages of development

b.     Erik Erickson’s stages of development

IV.            ‘Need’ a little personality?

a.     How needs impact personality

b.     Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

V.              Basic Personality Traits

a.     Values

b.     Beliefs

c.     Interactions

d.     Experiences

e.     Environmental influences

f.      The big five dimensions

VI.            Moral Development

a.     As related to personality

b.     Kohlberg’s stages

VII.          What’s your personality type?

a.     What are the basic personality types?

b.     Quiz to determine personality type

c.     Learning about yourself through type

VIII.        Hearing Jung Out

a.     Who was Carl Jung

b.     His contribution to personality development theory

IX.            Personality and Career Choice

a.     Matching your career and personality

b.     Why it matters

c.     Self efficacy

X.              Changing Your Personality

a.     Can personalities change?

b.     Being yourself, being adaptable

c.     Positive attitude

d.     Individuality

e.     Controlling emotions

XI.            Personality Disorders

a.      What they are and why understanding them matters

                                          i.     Paranoid, schizoid, antisocial, borderline.

                                          ii.    Symptoms

                                          iii.   Causes

                                          iv.   Treatments

XII.          Do opposites really attract?

a.     Getting like personalities together, as well as opposites

b.     What can happen

c.     Multiple personalities on the same team

XIII.        Personal Growth

a.     Ways you can try to improve

b.     Helpful tools and exercises

c.     Benefits of keeping a journal

d.     Setting goals, focusing on positives

XIV.       Working on Personality Changes

a.     Focusing on attitude

b.     Staying motivated

c.     Increasing confidence

d.     Watching body language

e.     Handling other people

XV.         Putting it all together

a.      Knowing your own personality strengths and weaknesses

b.      Being able to identify other people’s personality traits

c.      Using that in your home, career and relationships

Continued learning on personality development

                            Learning Outcomes

By successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

• Describe how a personality develops.
• Define the stages of personality development.
• Describe basic personality traits.
• Describe how morals are developed.
• Define personality types.
• Describe Jung theories about development.
• Describe how personality affects career choices.
• Describe methods for changing your personality.
• Describe personality disorders.
• Describe how to work on personality changes, and
• Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.