Psychological Processes in Preparing Contemporary Biography

This article examines some of the psychological processes that occur in work on contemporary biography, particularly in the interaction between biographer and subject or informant. The author emphasizes similarities between biographical work and scientific procedures in the study of personality and behavior. He describes the characteristics of the biographical interview and potential sources of error in the interview and in the biographer's structuring and interpretation. The author views the work of biography as a set of iterative steps through which the biographer and his informants achieve an approximation of truth.