The study consists of a psychobiography of the American entrepreneur and innovative co-founder of Apple Computers, Steven Paul Jobs (1955 – 2011). The psychobiographical research method qualitatively considers the lived life of an individual in an attempt to understand the psychological development in the context of applied psychological theory. A theoretical integration of Adler‘s Individual Psychology and Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence was utilized in the present study. This integrative approach facilitated a dynamic and holistic picture of the individual‘s functioning in illuminating not only personality but also the individual‘s social context, choice making capacity, general resistance resources and the individual‘s ‗meaning making‘ capacity in the strive towards health and superiority. Steven Paul Jobs revolutionised personal computing. Ranked as Forbes‘ seventeenth most powerful person and Man of the Year by The Financial Times in 2010, Jobs‘ contribution to modern technology is widely acknowledged and revered. To ensure the accurate description of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs, extensive data was examined by utilizing Alexander‘s model of identifying salient themes. The study considered the nature and methodology of psychobiography, the theories of Alfred Adler and Aaron Antonovsky and the life of Steven Paul Jobs that resulted in an integrated psychological description of the subject. The findings of this study indicate that Steven Paul Jobs‘ unique context (environment and constitutional attributes) was valuable in light of the theoretical frameworks that the present study is grounded upon as it illustrated an individual‘s self-determination and capacity to exercise choice in response to life challenges. The study highlighted that the individual is not necessarily a passive bystander to his life events but rather is driven by an internal forward striving. Key concepts: Aaron Antonovsky, Alfred Adler, Apple Computers, Individual Psychology, Psychobiography, Sense of Coherence, Steven Paul Jobs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:9978 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Moore, Noelle |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | xiii, 167 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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