1. a biography that analyzes the psychological motivations, mental state, and unconscious drives of a subject, often using psychological or psychoanalytic theory
Usage: academic and literary contexts; often used in history, literature, and psychology

Examples

• The historian wrote a psychobiography of the president that explored his childhood trauma and its influence on his political decisions.
• Psychobiography combines traditional biographical research with psychological analysis to understand a person's inner life.
• Critics debated whether the psychobiography's interpretation of the artist's motivations was supported by evidence.
• The author used psychobiographic methods to examine how the subject's relationships shaped his creative output.
• Many psychobiographies of historical figures attempt to diagnose mental conditions based on available records.