Running Head: CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

Case Study of Morgan Adams

Morgan Adams
East Stroudsburg University
Dr. Bartolli

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

Abstract
This is a case study on Morgan Adams. This case study will provide you with a background on
Morgans life, and some major life events that she went through. Morgan also did a series of
psychological tests that included; the self-esteem inventory, an orientation test, and a locus of
control scale. Each one of these personality tests help us understand Morgan. Some are more
accurate than others, but each can still tell us a lot about her personality. Also, Morgans life was
compared to Erik Eriksons stages of development theory. There will be a few different theorists
that will help explain Morgans life, some will help more than others. Each of the theories will be
applied to Morgans life and then evaluated to see how much it is accurate about her life.

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

Morgan is a 20-year old, Caucasian female. She grew up in a divorced home with 2 other
siblings. Her parents got divorced when she was 4 and does not remember much of her parents
being together. Her mom got remarried twice and her father got remarried three times. Morgan
has dealt with a lot of change in her life, which has giving her a rough childhood. Most
importantly when she was 11 years old and in the fifth grade, she moved in permanently into her
Fathers house. Her sister and her brother continued to live with her Mother. She moved in with
her Father, stepmother, and step brother; which was a huge decision for such a young child.
Although, for 6 years of her life she was verbally abused by her stepmother, which was also her
Fathers third wife. Her childhood was very rough, and due to the abuse of her childhood she has
many communication issues. She also finds it very difficult to show her feelings. When she was
in middle school, her Mother took her to a counselor for a year or two. It seemed to help a little
bit, but ultimately she should have continued with the counseling to help her cope with her
feelings.
Morgan performed a series of personality tests which included: the self-esteem inventory,
the locus of control scale, and the orientation test. She did these series of test in order to figure
out her personality and to help her understand more about herself. Then we compared the tests
and personal experiences Morgan has had in the past. Also, Morgans life will be compared to
Erik Eriksons 8 stages of development. All four theories will be applied to Morgans life and see
how accurate it portrays her life.
There are many theorists that can help us understand Morgan, and Julian Rotter can help
us understand how much control Morgan has of her own life. Rotter focused on internal versus

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

external control. The first test Morgan took was Rotters locus of control scale. Locus of control
refers to the extent to which an individual believes that they can control events that affect them.
There was 29 questions on this test, each question she had to choice between two different
statements. For example the first question was children get in trouble because their parents
punish them too much or the trouble with most children nowadays is that their parents are too
easy on them. Morgan answered: the trouble with most children nowadays is that their parents
are too easy on them. This does not mean much now, although by the end of the test it will be
fairly clear on how much control Morgan has on her own life according to Rotters theory. After
Morgan took the test, she received a score of 11. A lower score means that she has more of an
internal locus of control. That means she believes more that her life is in her control and not in
something external like fate. This means that Morgan has better control over her own behaviors
and has an influence on others around her. She personally does not believe in fate and believes
that everything is in her power. Success is in her hands, although she does occasionally does
believe that everything happens for a reason. When things go wrong in her life she normally
thinks that it is not under her control and that it must be fate. Although, she has always thought
that she has control in what happens in her life with the exceptions of a few things.
Rotter had an interesting theory about internal and external control. He believed that there
are people with more internal control or external control. Internal control means that you believe
that everything is in your hands, but on the other hand external control is people that believe in
fate and other external forces. These two types of people are significantly different from one
another. Julian Rotters theory most definitely applies to Morgans life. It is fairly obvious that
Morgan has an internal locus of control more than external. An individual with an internal locus
of control perceives that reinforcement is dependent on their own behavior or characteristic is not

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

fate, luck, or chance. When Morgan was in high school she did believe in fate every once in a
while, which is also known as external control. She has always tried to achieve things in life on
her own and not depend on fate. Although, in high school one time she did horrible in one class.
Normally she has received As and Bs in her classes, but for once she got a C- in an English
class. She did try hard in the class, but still received that grade. On the other hand Morgan has
never been great in her English classes, so it was not a complete surprise. She almost gave up
because she thought it was fate that she would not get a good grade. On occasion Morgan admits
that she does believe in fate but it is normally when something goes wrong in her life. Morgan
thinks that she is in control of her own life, but every once in a while she may think that it was
just supposed to happen that way and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Julian Rotters
theory on internal and external control is fairly accurate describing Morgan. The test did provide
us with Morgan having more of an internal control rather than external control.
The next test was the self-esteem inventory, which was created by Albert Bandura. This
test is very detailed about how high or low self-esteem an individual may have. Morgan took this
test, which included 58 statements that either describe her or do not describe her. For example,
there are lots of things about myself Id change if I could, and Morgan answered that this
statement is not like her. After she was done answering all the statements, her score was taken,
which ended up being a score of 30. A score around 32 meant that she was in the 15 percentile
comparing to other women. She has a much lower score than most women and is in the lower
15% of all women. For the second part of the inventory score was the lie scale. On this scale she
scored a 3, which meant that she may have slightly lied on this test. The three statements were I
spend a lot of time daydreaming, I never get scolded, and I always tell the truth. These
statements tell us a lot about Morgan and it seems that she may lie or maybe just extend the truth

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

when answering some questions. Of course no one always tells the truth, although she may
believe in herself that she does. She also said that she never gets scolded, which could be true,
although it seems like there could be something behind that statement. Considering Morgan
scored a 3, which means she falls somewhere in the middle, but she falls more to the side of
lower self-esteem. According to the inferiority complex Morgan falls under this category:
People who do not feel good about themselves have trouble feeling good about anyone else.
They look hard for the flaws and shortcomings of others to try to convince themselves that they
really are not so bad after all.
Albert Banduras test is fairly accurate to Morgans life. She definitely already knew that
she had a lower self-esteem. Although, she thought her self-esteem was actually a little lower
than the test scores that she has received. She has always thought she has had a lower self-esteem
because of her parents, more specifically her Father and ex-stepmom. The main reason Morgan
has always had a lower self-esteem was because of her ex-stepmother. She used to verbally abuse
Morgan and always told her that she was never good enough. After a while Morgan completely
believed every word she said and it influenced her for the rest of her life. Those are very harsh
words to say to a young girl, and words like that will definitely effect the self-esteem of a girl
later in her life. Albert Bandura had a fairly accurate theory on self-esteem and this test was also
fairly accurate on Morgans self-esteem. It is apparent that Morgans self-esteem has always been
fairly low, and that as a young child she was easily influenced by her parents. Although, it is very
clear to Morgan that she has a lower self-esteem. Also, the lie scale was fairly accurate for
Morgan and I found out the reason that she may have unintentionally lied about a few questions.
She lied about the statements I spend a lot of time daydreaming, I never get scolded, and I
always tell the truth. When Morgan was young she used to get scolded all the time, even when

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

she did not do anything wrong. Her ex-stepmother scolded her and yelled at her a lot, and now
that Morgan is older she finds herself never getting scolded now that her stepmother is not in her
life anymore. Also, Morgan used to get scolded for not telling the truth even though most of the
time she was telling the truth. A lot of bad and messed up things in her childhood happened, and
that is why she believes that she always tells the truth now. Even though, that is not completely
true, but she does believe that. I believe that Morgan may have a slightly lower self-esteem than
what Albert Bandura predicted in this test, although this test was still fairly accurate to Morgans
life.
The next test was an orientations test, which Erich Fromm created. This test is supposed
to tell you how high or low each orientation you have is. The five orientations or personality
types are receptive, exploitative, hoarding, marketing, and productive. The receptive type is more
like a person that is always depending on others, but an exploitative type is the person that has to
always be in control or have all the power. Then the hoarding type is more of the person that
holds on to things and may treat other people like their own possessions. As for the marketing
type, this type of person is normally strictly business, and then the productive type is supposed to
be the healthy type. Morgan took the orientation test, which had descriptive words and she was
supposed to number 1 to 5 on how much that word describes her. After the scoring was done
Morgan scored a 33 on the receptive type, a 22 on the exploitative type, a 35 on the hoarding
type, a 34 on the marketing type, and a 31 on the productive type. For the receptive, hoarding,
marketing, and productive type Morgan scored low to medium on how much she is those types.
Although, her exploitative type was significantly lower than all of the other orientation types.
Before Morgan took the orientation test, she said that she saw herself more receptive than
anything else. Although the test did not provide us with that answer. Her receptive type, hoarding

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

type, marketing type, and productive type all scored within 4 points of each other. In the past
Morgan has always depended on others for getting through everything, and for the most part she
has been very dependent on her past boyfriends. I do not think that is a good thing, although
since she has gotten into serious relationships, she has always been the receptive type. The
exploitative type is completely different and it turns out that she tends to fall for the guys that are
more of the exploitative type. Which is the complete opposite of her, even though she is not but
she has definitely been with guys that follow under that type. Morgan choosing exploitative types
of guys may have to do with her Father and her childhood. Her father definitely is the
exploitative type of person, and is always in control and taking orders. Ever since Morgan has
been a child she normally listens and does whatever people say. People always say that you fall
in love with other people that are similar to your Father, and that has definitely happened to
Morgan. This says a lot about her personality, and she even admitted that she hates to be the one
in control and have the power. Erich Fromms test was more accurate on how little Morgan is the
exploitative type, and is a lot less accurate of the other personality types like the receptive type.
Morgan is more the receptive type than of the other orientations, and this test did not prove it.
This test should have showed that the receptive type had a larger score than all the others, but
that did not happen in this case. Four out of the five orientations were very close in score and did
not prove that the receptive type was higher. This test seems to have less accuracy than the other
tests.
Erik Erikson developed eight stages of psychosocial development. Psychosocial
development is a union of physical yearnings and the cultural forces that act on the individual.
The stages are characterized by epigenesis, which the stages literally emerge one on top of the
other. Morgan has gone through the process of the first five stages already, and is now currently

CASE STUDY: MORGAN ADAMS

in the sixth stage. The first stage of Erik Eriksons psychosocial development is trust verse
mistrust. This stage occurs around birth to the first year and in this stage the infant will either
trust or mistrust. Trust means that it can count on the satisfaction of its needs, and mistrust is the
feeling of abandonment and helplessness that accompanies uncertainty of satisfaction. When
Morgan was an infant she had both her Mother and her Father taking care of her. In this stage she
depended completely on her Mother, and in this stage Morgan accepted trusting her Mother.
Every second she depended on her mom, and she was always taken care of. She was never
neglected and was always taken care of the right way, this led Morgan to trusting her Mother.
Trusting her Mother was key to the first stage of development, and once she did that, Morgan
could proceed to the stage.
The second stage of development is autonomy versus shame and doubt, which occurs
from around ages 2 to 3. In this stage Morgan was raised by both her mom and her dad, which
played a very important role in this stage. According to Morgans mom, she faced this stage and
accomplished autonomy. Morgan had the will to do things and never had an issue letting go of
her parents even when they went to work. Occasionally Morgan had problems letting go of her
brother when he first started going to school, but Morgan eventually learned how to let go and do
things on her own. Ever since Morgan was young she has been taken care of family members
and then later in day cares. Being able to separate from her Mother and letting go was important
for Morgan in this stage, and she overcame the challenge, which included the challenge of
compulsion. Once Morgan got through this stage, she continued on to the third stage.
The third stage is initiative versus guilt, and it occurs from 3 to 6 years old. In this stage
Morgan directly interacted with her family, although she had a lot of struggles and challenges
during this stage. Around the age of 4, Morgans parents got divorced. Which Morgan definitely

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had difficulty dealing with. She was young and it was hard to process, and she had a lot of
struggles throughout this stage. The purpose in this stage is to work for things and find a purpose
in life. With everything that was going on in her family, she had a hard time doing this. She
slowly learned how to work hard for things, and she did accomplish it but it took a little longer
than it might for other children. Morgan was very young and trying to figure out her purpose in
life, and she overcome the challenges in this stage, but still struggled through it. Then Morgan
continued to the fourth stage of development.
The fourth stage is industry versus inferiority, which occurs during ages 7 to 12 years old.
During this stage of development Morgan was going through a lot of changes in her life,
probably more changes than any child should go through at that age. After Morgans parents
divorced she went to live with her Mother with her other siblings. She has an older brother and
an older sister. Morgans mom eventually started to realize that Morgan had communication
problems, which may be due to her parents divorce, but the true reason is uncertain. Her mom
forced her to go to counseling, and Morgan definitely did not like it. With all the changes in
Morgans life, she made a huge decision to move in with her Father. Morgan never really felt like
she belonged living with her mom. She moved in with her dad and stepmother at the age of 11,
and had to deal with an even bigger change in her life. In this stage Morgan was interacting with
her neighborhood and school mates, and her interactions within her family had an effect on her
other interactions. They negatively affected her, and in this stage she had trouble making new
friends. She started a new school, moved to a new neighborhood, and had to make new friends in
a place she was not familiar with to her. She definitely had a difficulty with making new friends,
in this stage, but Morgan did have a goal to complete things; although she also had trouble
accomplishing her goals. Despite Morgan having trouble at home and having trouble completing

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things she eventually overcame all the obstacles in her way. Which then she could continue to the
next stage of development.
The fifth stage is identity versus role confusion, which occurs during ages 12 to 18. In
this stage Morgan was easily influenced by her peers and role models. During the beginning of
this stage Morgan started to deal with verbal abuse by her step-mother. She would have to endure
yelling all the time, being told she was not good enough, and other horrible things. This began to
shape the person Morgan was becoming, although her dad and her step-mom ended up getting a
divorce when she was 16. A lot of Morgans challenges after that would become easier, at least
that is what she thought. During all of those years that she was abused, really effected how
Morgan mentally grew as a young adult. Morgan began to try to find herself, and it proved to be
very difficult to her. She participated in many different things in high school, which included
bowling, band, tech crew in the school musical, and a few clubs. Morgan had fun doing things
although she never really found a true passion in high school. She was trying to discover herself
and find out who she wanted to be. Although, once again that was proving to be very difficult for
her. It was not until her junior year when she was 17 that she discovered what she loved and what
she found a passion for. She took her very first introduction to psychology class. Morgan really
did not have much grasp on what psychology was before she took the class, all she ever knew
was the counseling she went through when she was younger, and yet she did not understand that.
She took this class and she absolutely loved it, for the first time in her life she thought that she
actually had a future in something. Her future would be in psychology, and that is currently the
future she is working on. Morgan had a long journey on trying to find herself and once she
figured out what she wanted to do with her life, she was be able to figure out who she was as a
person. Morgan has a lot of trouble coping with what happened in her childhood, although she

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thought that psychology could help her find herself more and more every day. She wants to help
herself with her problems, as well as help as many people as she can along the way. She has
always wanted to help people, even before she knew that she wanted to go into the field of
psychology. In this stage Morgan had to overcome a lot of obstacles, but she got through it and
discovered who she was, which then she continued to the next stage.
The sixth stage of development is intimacy versus isolation, which occurs in young
adulthood. This is the current stage of development Morgan is in. Morgan is currently in college
and for the most part she only interacts with her partner and friends at school. Morgan is
currently in a relationship, although she has never seen herself as an intimate person. Morgan has
had a difficulty in the relationship that she is in, she wants to go more towards isolation than
intimacy at this point in her life. At this point in her life Morgan is facing isolation because she
wants to focus more on school and less of drama that comes within a relationship. Heartbreak
from a previous relationship she was in, could be the reason she feels this way. She wants to
escape it, and feel more isolated than anything else. Although, Morgan still is still currently in
this stage, and has not overcome it yet. It will definitely be a long journey if she either picks
intimacy or isolation, and right now she states that she rather go towards the isolation aspect. It is
still possible for her to overcome all the challenges and feel intimacy, but that may be a few
years from now that she eventually passes this stage.
There are 2 more stages of development in Erik Eriksons theory. The seventh stage is
generativity versus stagnation, which occurs in mid-adulthood. Then the eighth stage is integrity
versus despair, which occurs in your other adulthood until you die. Morgan has a long way to get
to these stages. She must first overcome the current stage she is in, which is intimacy versus
isolation. Although, Morgan can and will overcome all of these challenges in life, or at least she

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plans to. Erik Erikson had an interesting theory about stages in a persons lifespan. Morgan
definitely thinks that Erik Eriksons stages of development apply to her own life. Many things
that are supposed to happen in each stage has also happened to Morgan in her life. Erikson is a
theorist that pretty much accurately portrays Morgan and how she has overcome each stage so far
in her life. This theory is much more applicable to Morgans life than a theory like Freuds. Erik
Erikson can accurately describe the stages of development we go through, and how it is applies
to Morgans life personally.
There are four theorists that can help us understand Morgan. Julian Rotter, Albert
Bandura, Erik Erikson, and Erich Fromm all have theories that are applicable to Morgans life,
and help us understand her more. Although, some theories are more accurate to Morgans life
than others. Each theory helps us understand Morgan a little bit more, and the more theories we
discover and compare to Morgans life, the more we may understand her life more. Even though
some theories will still be more accurate than others, but it would help us understand her better.
Morgan took a few different tests about her personality and discovers some things that she may
or may not knew about herself before. Simple personality tests can help you understand your life
a little bit more. Each test more had taken, helped us understand her life and her personality more
clearly. Each of these theorists described Morgans life and personality. Most of them were fairly
accurate, but a few things were not.