PSY 328 Project 2 Milestone

PSY 328 Project Two Milestone Template To begin your milestone, you will first select one of the professions from the list provided. Complete this template by replacing the bracketed text with the relevant information. Your responses should each be about 3 to 5 sentences in length. Review the example responses in the assignment guidelines and rubric document to help you get started. Professions : ● Doctor ● Nurse ● Mental health professional ● Teacher ● Customer service representative ● Political figure ● Business owner ● Police officer 1. Personality and the Individual A. Identify one trait from the Big Five (openness, also known as intellect/imagination; conscientiousness; extraversion; agreeableness; or neuroticism, also known as emotional stability) of your choice that you think is particularly important for your selected profession and justify your response. I think that neuroticism is important in a mental health professional because they are dealing with the mind and emotions of someone else who is trusting them to guide them in the right direction. It takes an emotionally strong person to be a mental health professional, there is no room for reactions from the professional that can trigger your patient/client. I have found from personal experience that I prefer a counselor who has been through their own share of hardships and can empathize with me without saying “I’m so sorry that happened!”. B. Describe whether it would be most ideal for your selected professional to be low, high, or mixed for the Big Five trait you identified for most situations and justify your response. I believe it would be most ideal for mental health professionals to be mixed on the neuroticism scale. While neuroticism can be a good thing, it can also portray more “negative” reactions such as being overly critical or projecting self-out. Those are not characteristics that mental health professionals typically display or have at all. Neuroticism just like other personality traits exists on a spectrum, some display more of the characteristic than others. C. Explain whether you think the effectiveness of the Big Five trait you selected depends on the situation . To justify your response, provide a real or imagined example where the trait would benefit the professional and an example where the same trait would not benefit the professional. Neuroticism as a trait is certainly situational in the mental health profession. A high level of neuroticism in a mental health professional would be off-putting to clients and employers alike as it is much harder to mask neurotic thought processes when someone is higher on the neurotic scale. You wouldn’t want to confide in someone 1

about your own issues when the person who is helping seems to be in distress themselves. On the other hand, I believe a certain level of neuroticism is necessary to be in the mental health field. The mind is very complex and not everyone can truly understand how in-depth mental illnesses and disorders can go. As I stated before, I prefer my mental health professionals to have some type of first-hand experience with the issues I present because I know they have true understanding and know how to navigate through them. 2. Personality and Teams A. Identify another trait from the Big Five for your selected profession and describe how scoring low, high, or mixed on that trait might influence how that professional conducts their work or interacts with others. Another trait that I believe is most ideal is conscientiousness, but this time at a higher level. People with a high conscientiousness level are typically organized and hard- working, qualities that are imperative in the professional world. (Shiraev, E., 2016) Being able to separate work from personal life or emotion falls into the category of conscientiousness and as a mental health professional, that characteristic is vital. B. Explain whether you think it is better to have a diversity of traits within the same profession or among professionals with the same role or whether it is better for the professionals to exhibit the same traits. Justify your response. I believe that it’s better to have a diversity of traits if the traits that are most important are exhibited across the board. While being too different can cause conflict, being too alike with certain personality traits can also cause conflict. If you have a team of highly neurotic people, the likelihood of everyone being on task and completing their assignments is low. A mix of traits among professionals can still create balance within the workplace. 3. Personality, Stress, and Coping A. Describe how you would expect your selected professional to cope with stress using a trait you identified previously or a new trait of your choosing. I would expect a mental health professional to cope with stress a conscientious mind. Though being in the mental health profession can be stressful, this career is one where you cannot show too much stress without reason for concern. Highly conscientious people exhibit better self-control than others, which help can help mental health professionals separate their personal feelings and beliefs to help their client or patient. B. Explain what kind of support you would expect from a person in this profession if you were seeking help or advice. Consider how much emotional intelligence you might expect your selected professional to display. As someone who is entering the mental health field, offering sincere and thought-out support is crucial. Being able to explain why we feel the way we do and offer advice on how to navigate our issues without making the client feel self-conscious for opening up and being vulnerable is priority. Guiding someone who is troubled requires patience and understanding, along with strong emotional intelligence to leave work outside of your home life. 2