Character Strengths and Psychobiography: A Case Study using

Walt Whitman

Ms Carol Saccaggi – 3 July 2014 – University of Johannesburg, SA

Walt Whitman – an Introduction

* Born 1819, died 1892

* Leaves of Grass – 1855* One of the great

American poets* The father of free verse

Snippets of Whitman

•Journalist? Editor? Writer? Poet?•Leaves of Grass?•Homosexual? Bisexual? Children?•Racist?•The new Christ?

Analysing Whitman?

•A product of his times•An unconcious integrative American conscience (Jungian formulation)•A search for the idealised mother due to unacceptable homosexual urges•Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Psychobiography

•“the systematic use of psychological theory to transform a life into a coherent and illuminating story” (McAdams, 1988)•GOALS:

• Enhance understanding of a specific individual

• Comment on usefullness/ relevance of a theory

Character Strengths –Peterson & Seligman

Markers of Salience

Primacy Frequency Uniqueness

Negation Emphasis Omission

Error or Distortion

Isolation Incompletion

Whitman on Whitman

I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Song of Myself (1855 – Leaves of Grass)

Appreciation of Beauty(the ability to find, recognize, and take pleasure in the existenceof goodness in the physical worlds)

• Identified by peers• Feature of his poetry consistently

identified by critics• Beauty in nature, people, events (Leaves

of Grass) • SALIENCE MARKERS: frequency and

emphasis

Creativity(the inventive characteristics of a person, product, or process … where there is recognizable originality)

• Constant updating of Leaves of Grass• Invention of new poetic form• Observed by peers – brother commented

that he was only interested in his poetry• Comments from introduction to Leaves

of Grass• SALIENCE MARKERS: Primacy,

Frequency,Emphasis

Vitality(organismic well-being in which individuals feel energetic, alert, and fully alive)

•Imagery in poetry of life and nature•Comments from ‘apostles’•Identified by critics of his work – “in love with life”•Work in the war (ALSO – KINDNESS)•SALIENCE MARKERS: Frequency, emphasis

Conclusion and Discussion

•Definitely able to find evidence of strengths and some DEFINITELY more apparent than others•POSSIBLE LIMITATION: Easy to find what you are looking for. Danger of explaining by naming•CONCLUSION: Useful explanatory framework, provides ideas of what to look for BUT

• More descriptive does not provide explanation• Perhaps consider using strength criteria instead

of saliency markers

Have you reckon’d a thousand acres much? have you reckon’d the earth much?Have you practis’d so long to learn to read?Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,)You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books,You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.

THANK YOU!

Ms Carol SaccaggiLecturer, Clinical PsychologistUniversity of Johannesburg, South AfricaEmail: carolsa@uj.ac.zaTel: +27(11)559 4672/3332