Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold:
• to engage you in independent literature search using personality psychology literature
• to have you demonstrate how a research study in personality contributes to the knowledge about important research questions and has practical implications for understanding and addressing contemporary social issues

Process
Search the research literature in scholarly journals in Personality Psychology since January 2019 to pick ONE research article that reports results of an empirical research study in personality that you find interesting and can understand. DO NOT PICK AN ARTICLE THAT IS A LITERATURE REVIEW, A THEORETICAL PAPER, OR A META ANALYSIS. If you have any doubts, check with me. Journals you definitely want to look at include Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Personality. Sit down in the library or at your computer (access journals through the library’s web site) and thumb through the journals’ table of contents to identify potential articles. Read the abstracts. Pick your article.

When you have selected your article, write the paper in the following format:

1) Title Page in the following format:
Title of your paper
Your name
SUNY Buffalo State
Date you handed in the paper
PSY 311
2) Start off with a topic paragraph that:
• provides the citation of the article you are using
• clearly states the major theme of your paper, i.e., major point(s) you will be making in your paper. Be thoughtful. The topic paragraph should be like a synopsis of your paper, or, if you will, an abstract of your paper. I should be able to figure out the major points you will be making in the paper after reading your topic paragraph.
3) Review the article in 2-4 pages in your own words (don’t endlessly quote or worse, plagiarize):
• Describe the study purpose and major hypotheses.
• Summarize the study sample.
• Describe the research methods and measures used.
• Summarize the major results and conclusions.

4) Tell me in 2-4 pages WHY IS THIS STUDY IMPORTANT?
• How does the study you picked contribute to the knowledge about important research questions or our understanding of a contemporary social issue
• How does this study results relate to other studies in the area:
 does the study support other research?
 does it blaze new trails?
 does it contradict other research?

You should review and cite other relevant literature in personality psychology research to support the points you are making. You will be expected to do additional library research for this. You will need to reference at least three additional scholarly publications or scholarly websites (NOT Wikipidia, NOT YOUR TEXTBOOK) in making your argument.