The Psychobiographer’s Handbook: A Practical Guide to Research and Ethics

A comprehensive and practical guide on conducting rigorous, ethical, and impactful psychobiographical research.

Psychobiography is the intensive psychological study of an individual within their unique socio-cultural-historic context. This engaging and exciting approach challenges researchers to apply psychological theories and knowledge of history to understand the inner emotional life of a particular person, usually a prominent historical figure.

This handbook leads readers step-by-step through all aspects of planning and conducting a psychobiography. Readers will learn how to select an appropriate historical subject for research, anchor their study in established theories of psychology, collect and analyze data, monitor ethical considerations, and write the final report. Chapters are richly illustrated with examples from the author’s own work, as well as early psychobiographical landmarks, such as Freud’s study of Leonardo da Vinci and Erikson’s study of Mahatma Gandhi.

With its personal tone and wisdom borne from experience, this book will be a trusty resource for all psychobiographers, from students writing a psychobiography for a course to seasoned researchers writing a book-length psychobiography for publication.

Joseph G. Ponterotto, PhD, is a professor of counseling psychology in the graduate school of education at Fordham University’s New York City campus. He is a leading national scholar in psychobiography, multicultural psychology, and qualitative research methods. He has published 16 books, including two psychobiographies: A Psychobiography of Bobby Fischer (2012) and A Psychobiography of John F. Kennedy, Jr. (2019). His research on Bobby Fischer led to his role as historical consultant on the major motion picture, Pawn Sacrifice (2016), starring Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer and Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky.