Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)
The Mormon Church is currently one of the fastest growing religions in the world.
Given the religion’s prominence, this study embarks on an investigation of the
psychological characteristics of two of the religion’s leaders: Wilford Woodruff (1807-
1898) and Gordon Bitner Hinckley (1910-2006). Born over a century apart, these two
Mormon prophets guided the faith through very different circumstances and contexts.
The lives of these two individuals have not previously been investigated from a
psychological perspective, and it is believed that this project will shed new light on
their personalities and perhaps on the Mormon church as a whole.
The method selected for the investigation of these subjects is a multiple subject
psychobiography. Psychobiography is the endeavour within psychology to arrive at
holistic understandings of the lives of exemplary individuals. This is achieved through
an in-depth investigation of psychologically salient aspects of their lives, and the
judicial application of appropriate psychological theory. Two psychological theories,
the psychosocial developmental theory of Erik Erikson and the script theory of Silvan
Tomkins, were used as psychological explanatory paradigms within this study.
The study consists of three distinct elements. The first relates to the construction of
two individual psychobiographies. This was the main element of the thesis, and was
based on the psychobiographical method as well as various data analysis
techniques from within the realm of qualitative psychological research ...