BEYOND PSYCHOBIOGRAPHY - TOWARDS MORE EFFECTIVE SYNTHESES OF PSYCHOLOGY AND BIOGRAPHY

The question of how particular children develop into unusually compete nt or creative men and women has intrigued scholars in the very differ ent disciplines of biography and scientific psychology. That both trad itions make essential contributions is indicated by the fact that nume rous psychologists interested in individual development have drawn upo n biographical sources of information and many biographers have engage d in the kinds of psychodynamic theorizing associated with psychobiogr aphy. It is suggested here that psychology has considerably more to of fer to the study of individual development than psychobiographers have realized, and that findings emerging from empirical research can prov ide insights that are not routinely available to biographers. The arti cle then considers five necessary aspects of an approach that would ma ximize the impact of scientific psychology on our understanding of the development of exceptional individuals.