Abstract
M.A.
The main aim of this study was to explore and understand the life of Maya Angelou through the application of Frankl’s existential psychology using a psychobiographical method. Maya Angelou was an exemplary and highly influential individual who authored many books, wrote plays, poetry and starred in movies. Her life had difficult beginnings during times of racial prejudice and strife in the 1930s. The major themes within her life were aligned with the concepts inherent to Frankl’s theory. Frankl’s theory encompasses the notions of striving for a purpose where all human beings have a spiritual core that seek the discovery of meaning. The study revolved around these core themes and involved an exploration of the entirety of Maya Angelou’s life with the secondary aims of contributing to psychobiographical research as a whole and exploring and illuminating Frankl’s theory through the application of his concepts. Data was extracted, organised and analysed according to the methods set out by Miles, Huberman and Saldaña (2014), as well as saliences set out by Alexander (in Schultz, 2005b) and Schultz (2005b). The major findings of the study were that Maya Angelou was not open to the discovery of meaning during her childhood years. As she got older, she began to strive for purpose in her life and this opened her up to meaning moments. She wanted to help others, be creative and enjoyed the experiences that she had with other people. These fulfilled her and gave her meaning, allowing her to change and extend beyond herself to other people and to the further discovery of meaning. The major contributions of this study are the analysis of Maya Angelou’s life, the use of Frankl’s theory as an explanatory framework within a psychobiographical analysis and the development of the research method of psychobiography.