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A psychobiography of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu

Psychobiographies offer the illuminating experience of uncovering the story of an individual’s life through the lens of a psychological theory. Psychobiographies offer the chance to gain a deeper understanding of what makes that individual unique. This study aimed to explore and describe the emotional intelligence of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu according to Goleman’s (1998) theory of Emotional Intelligence. Tutu was chosen as a subject for this study because of his extraordinary life and accomplishments, and because he is regarded as a prominent figure of moral leadership in South Africa. A qualitative psychobiographical research method was utilised. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources to enhance internal validity, and was then analysed according to Miles and Huberman’s (1994) approach. The findings suggest that Tutu applied all of the twenty five emotional intelligence capacities during his life, and that at times, some were used more extensively than others. This study is groundbreaking in that it is the first psychobiography on Desmond Tutu, and it is the first psychobiography undertaken at the University of Fort Hare. Psychobiographies offer an opportunity to evaluate the psychological theory which is applied. It was found that Goleman’s (1998) theory of Emotional Intelligence is supported by this study.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufh/vital:11856
Date January 2011
CreatorsEliastam, Liesl Marijke
PublisherUniversity of Fort Hare, Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Masters, M Soc Sc (C Psy)
Format95 leaves; 30 cm, pdf
RightsUniversity of Fort Hare

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