psychobiography

[ sahy-koh-bahy-og-ruh-fee, -bee- ]

noun

, plural psy·cho·bi·og·ra·phies.

1. a biographical study focusing on psychological factors, as childhood traumas and unconscious motives.

psychobiography

/ ˌsaɪkəʊbaɪəʊˈɡræfɪkəl; ˌsaɪkəʊbaɪˈɒɡrəfɪ /

noun

1. a biography that pays particular attention to a person's psychological development

Derived Forms

• psychobiographical, adjective

Other Words From

• psycho·bi·ogra·pher noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychobiography¹

First recorded in 1930–35; psycho- + biography

Example Sentences

Her bookcase displays her many publications: her psychobiography of the poet Robert Lowell, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and her books on suicide, on exuberance and on the connection between mania and artistic genius.

From New York Times

In “Loving Highsmith,” filmmaker Eva Vitija explores the life and career of author Patricia Highsmith through the lens of her love life, a form of psychobiography that fitfully brings the subject into focus, only to render her elusive in the end.

From Washington Post

What Mr. Macdonald wants to do is a kind of cultural psychobiography.”

From Los Angeles Times

What Mr. Macdonald wants to do is a kind of cultural psychobiography.

From New York Times

She has authored eight elegantly crafted and disparate novels, among them “Thicker Than Water” and “Envy”; a spate of autobiographical works, including “The Road to Santiago” and “Seeking Rapture”; and a psychobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux.

From Washington Post