A PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF STEVEN PAUL JOBS
N. MOORE
2014
A PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF STEVEN PAUL JOBS
By
Noëlle Moore
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Magister Artium in Counselling Psychology to be awarded at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
March 2014
Supervisor: Professor Greg Howcroft
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DECLARATION
I, Noëlle Moore (205003435), hereby declare that the treatise for Magister Artium in
Counselling Psychology is my own work and that it has not previously been submitted for assessment or completion of any postgraduate qualification.
Noelle Moore
Official use:
In accordance with Rule G4.6.3,
4.6.3 A treatise/dissertation/thesis must be accompanied by a written declaration on the part of the candidate to the effect that it is his/her own work and that it has not previously been submitted for assessment to another University or for another qualification. However, material from publications by the candidate may be embodied in a treatise/dissertation/thesis.
ii
Here‘s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes...the ones who see things differently – they‘re not fond of rules...You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but one thing you can‘t do is ignore them because they change things...they change things...they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do (Steven Paul Jobs, 1955
– 2011).
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The completion of this study was made possible by the support and assistance received from numerous sources. Herewith, I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to:
God for granting me the not only the opportunity to undertake and complete postgraduate studies but also the capability and strength of character to fulfil my life purpose as He reveals it to me.
Professor Gregory Howcroft, my supervisor, for his insights, guidance and the high standards according to which he measured the present study.
My parents for instilling in me the drive to succeed and granting me the opportunity to undertake tertiary studies. This journey would not be possible without their emotional and financial support as they encouraged me in my striving toward my final goal in discovery of my life purpose.
And finally, my friends - in particular Melissa de Lange and Gregory Mitchell - for their continued support and words of encouragement throughout the duration of this undertaking.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
PHOTOGRAPH OF STEVEN PAUL JOBS ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF FIGURES x
LIST OF APPENDICES xii
ABSTRACT xiii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT 1
Chapter Preview 1
Context of the Research 1
The study of the individual 1
The psychobiographical approach 1
An overview of the theoretical frameworks for this study 2
Primary aim of the research 4
The researcher‘s personal passage 5
A brief introduction to Steven Paul Jobs (1955 – 2011) 5
Overview of the structure of the study 7
Conclusion 7
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CHAPTER 2: AN OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL
RESEARCH 9
Chapter Preview 9
Psychobiography and Related Concepts 9
Biography 10
Life histories 11
Life narratives and life stories 11
Psychohistories, historical psychology and historiographies 12
Case studies 12
Criticism of the Psychobiographical Case Study Method 13
The Value and Benefits of Psychobiographical Case Study 15
Uniqueness of the individual case 15
Socio-historical context 15
Process and pattern over time 15
Subjective reality 16
Theory testing and development 16
A Concise History of the Development of Psychobiography 17
Conclusion 19
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CHAPTER 3: A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF ADLER’S INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY AND ANTONOVSKY’S SENSE OF COHERENCE 20
Chapter Preview 20
Overview of Adler‘s Individual Psychology 21
View of the person 21
Structure of personality 24
Constitutional attributes 24
Inferiority and compensation 24
Complexes 26
Social environment 26
Birth order 27
Faulty lifestyles 29
Creative self 30
The lifestyle 31
Development of lifestyle 31
Lifestyle types 34
Ruling type 34
Getting or leaning type 35
Avoiding type 35
Socially useful type 35
Striving for superiority 36
Striving for power 36
Social interest 37
Optimal development 39
Critique of Adler‘s Individual Psychology 40 vii
Conclusion of Adler‘s Individual Psychology 43
Overview of Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence 43
The continuum of health 44
Salutogenesis 44
Sense of Coherence 45
Critique of Antonovsky‘s salutogenesis 46
Conclusion 47
CHAPTER 4: THE LIFE OF STEVEN PAUL JOBS 48
Chapter Preview 48
The Lived Life of Steven Paul Jobs 48
Childhood 48
Adopted. Chosen. Special. 48
School 52
Lost but not found 57
Adulthood 59
Disillusioned enlightenment 59
The beginning of a revolution 61
Reality distortion field 68
What is NeXT? 74
The final chapter 83
Return of the lost son 83
Fulfilment and mortality 86
Conclusion 88
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CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 89
Chapter Preview 89
Primary Aim of the Research 90
Preliminary Methodological Considerations 91
Analysing an absent subject 91
Researcher bias 91
Reconstruction 92
Reductionism 92
Pathography 93
Cross-cultural differences 93
Inflated expectations 94
Elitism and easy genre 94
Research Design 95
The Psychobiographical Subject 95
Data Collection and Analysis 96
Irving Alexander‘s nine principle identifiers of data salience 97
Ensuring Trustworthiness 98
Validity and reliability criticism 98
Ethical Considerations 99
Conclusions 100
CHAPTER 6: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 101
Chapter Preview 101
Research Findings and Discussion 101
Adopted. Chosen. Special. 101
The curious prankster 106 ix
Lost but not found 111
Disillusioned enlightenment 116
Reality distortion field 120
What‘s NeXT? 125
Return of the prodigal son 130
Connecting the dots backwards 132
Conclusion 140
CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 142
Chapter Preview 142
The Aims of the Study Revisited 142
Summary of the Research Findings 142
Possible Limitations Related to the Psychobiographical Research Method 145
The Value of the Research 149
The theoretical frameworks 149
The psychobiographical subject 150
Psychobiographical case research 150
Limitations of the Research 151
The theoretical frameworks 151
The psychobiographical subject 151
Psychobiographical case research 152
Recommendations for Future Research 152
Conclusion 153
REFERENCES 154
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LIST OF FIGURES
FRONT PAGE
Figure 1.1. Steven Paul Jobs (1955 – 2011) ii
CHAPTER 4
Figure 4.1. Paul Jobs and his son (n.d.) 50
Figure 4.2. Steve Jobs’ Childhood Home (2011) 51
Figure 4.3. Heathkit AA40 stereo amp (n.d.) 52
Figure 4.4. Steve Jobs, aged 14 years as part of the school electronics 56 club (1969) Figure 4.5. Woz using a ‘blue box’ to make a free long-distance phone 56 call (1971) Figure 4.6. Reed College (n.d.) 58
Figure 4.7. Arcade Game that Jobs and Woz developed for Atari (2010) 60
Figure 4.8. Apple I as designed by Jobs and Woz (1976) 64
Figure 4.9. First Apple logo under which Jobs and Woz sold their 66 products (1976) Figure 4.10. Apple II as designed by Jobs and Woz (2010) 66
Figure 4.11. Jobs and Woz at the launch of the Apple II (1970) 67
Figure 4.12. Woz working in an unconventional and creative 68 workspace (2010) Figure 4.13. Jobs in his barely furnished house in Los Gatos (1982) 70
Figure 4.14. Apple point-and-click user interface (2010) 71
Figure 4.15. Jobs, Sculley and Woz launching the Apple Mac 72 computer (2010) Figure 4.16. Folk singer Joan Baez (1961) 74
Figure 4.17. Jobs launching NeXT computers (1985) 75
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Figure 4.18. Jobs and his biological sister Mona Jandali 77 Simpson (2011) Figure 4.19. Jobs and his firstborn daughter Lisa Brennan Jobs (n.d.) 77
Figure 4.20. Jennifer Egan (n.d.) 78
Figure 4.21. Tina Redse (n.d.) 78
Figure 4.22. Jobs and Laurene Powell (1997) 80
Figure 4.23. Laurene and Jobs on their wedding day (1991) 80
Figure 4.24. Lisa Brennan Jobs as a teenager (n.d.) 81
Figure 4.25. Jobs pictured with his firstborn son, Reed (n.d.) 81
Figure 4.26. Jobs with his second born daughter, Erin (2010) 82
Figure 4.27. Jobs with his youngest daughter, Eve (n.d.) 82
Figure 4.28. Yoko Ono and John Lennon as featured in 85 ‘Think Different’ campaign (1997) Figure 4.29. The iMac, iBook, iPod Nan, iPhone and iPad as released 86 by Apple (2013) Figure 4.30. Jobs and Laurene at a public event shortly before 88 his death (2011) Figure 4.31. Jobs’ decline in health was physically noticeable 88 from 2004 – 2011 (2011)
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix A Detailed List of Figures 162
Appendix B Data Analysis Grid 166
Appendix C Timeline of Steven Paul Jobs (1955 – 2011) 167
xiii
ABSTRACT
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. 1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT
Chapter Preview
This chapter provides an overview of the study and presents Alfred Adler‘s Individual
Psychology (1929) in combination with Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987) as appropriate conceptual frameworks to explore and illuminate the lived life of Steven Paul
Jobs. The structure of the research, the research subject and the field of psychobiography are considered. The research problem, aims, scope and limitations are also discussed in addition to the researcher‘s personal passage in the pursuit of the aims.
Context of the Research
The study of the individual. Steven Paul Jobs lived a significant life. As Walter
Isaacson (2011) noted:
Steve Jobs thus became the greatest business executive of our era, the one most certain to be remembered a century from now. History will place him in the pantheon right next to Edison and Ford. More than anyone else of this time, he made products that were completely innovative, combining the power of poetry and processors. With a ferocity that could make working with him as unsettling as it was inspiring, he also built the world's most creative company. And he was able to infuse into its DNA the design sensibilities, perfectionism, and imagination that make it likely to be, even decades from now, the company that thrives best at the intersection of artistry and technology. (p.258)
To provide an objective, definitive representation of such an extraordinary lived life may be challenging. The researcher will attempt to take a lesson from Steven Paul Job‘s ingenuity and infuse her own sensibility, perfectionism and imagination in order to gain insight into the development of Steven Paul Jobs.
The psychobiographical approach. Psychobiography can be regarded as the application of psychological theory to provide an in-depth interpretation of a life (McAdams & Ochberg,
1988; Runyan, 1988; Schultz, 2005). Elms (1994) argued that psychobiography is a 2 significant method of social enquiry used to capture life narratives situated in time.
Biographers and psychologists interest themselves in the developmental differences of individuals and attempt to extrapolate how persons develop into becoming exceptionally competent, creative and productive, or simply extraordinary (Howe, 1997; Runyan, 1982;
Simonton, 1994). The psychobiography may then be regarded as ―the systematic use of psychological (especially personality) theory to transform a life into a coherent and illuminating story‖ (McAdams, 1994, p. 699).
Psychobiography facilitates the development of new conceptual insights to theory generation in addition to refining and adding to existing theories (Carlson, 1988; Edwards,
1990; Roberts, 2002). Psychobiographical research thus offers a unique opportunity for the researcher and the body of psychology to gain a holistic understanding of the lived life of a socio-historically relevant subject within the subjects context.
Alfred Adler‘s (1929) theory of Individual Psychology in combination with Aaron
Antonovsky‘s (1987) Sense of Coherence (SOC) serves as models against which the researcher can compare and analyse the data collected. This then assists in the conceptualization and operationalizing of case data within the framework of theoretical constructs, and allows for generalizing from the case study to the theory (Yin, 1994).
An overview of the theoretical frameworks for this study. Adler‘s Individual
Psychology (1929) will be the first theoretical perspective utilized to explore and describe
Jobs‘ personality development. Adler was of opinion that no life-expression can be viewed in isolation, but must always be regarded in relation to the total personality (Adler, 1929).
Individual Psychology can therefore be seen as the best expression of man as a single, indivisible individual or man as a unity (Orgler, 1963).
The researcher will analyse and seek to understand Jobs holistically by utilizing the guidelines upon which Individual Psychology is founded. According to Adler (1929) 3 individuals‘ behaviour is driven by their struggle for success or superiority. Adler was of the conviction that the individual‘s striving for superiority is the basic motivation of human functioning and viewed all behaviour as purposive, unified and energized by the upward drive towards superiority, mastery and significance from a subjective sense of inferiority.
Individuals strive toward a final goal that is either personal superiority or the goal of success for all humankind. Adler emphasises that the final goal is fictional and therefore has no objective existence, but has immense significance because it unifies personality and therefore provides a comprehensible framework for the individual‘s behaviour (Adler, 1929). Adlerian theory provides a dynamic perspective that enhances psychobiography as opposed to a static psychodiagnostic view of the individual‘s pathology (Carlson, 1988). The lived life of Steven
Paul Jobs will be systematically explored and described by drawing on the above-mentioned theoretical framework.
In an attempt to address common criticisms that psychobiographies emphasise psychopathological processes at the expense of normal and creative processes (Runyan,
1988), the psychobiographer will include Antonovsky‘s (1987) Sense of Coherence as the second theoretical approach in the analysis of Jobs‘ life. By drawing on the theoretical contribution that Aaron Antonovsky (1987) made to the body of psychology, the researcher will endeavour to analyse the lived life of Jobs through a salutogenic lens. According to
Antonovsky (1979), the salutogenic orientation postulates that an individual does not merely function in a dichotomous healthy or diseased manner but that health is a multidimensional continuum. Antonovsky emphasised that by thinking salutogenically one will necessarily derive a theory of coping, leading to an individual‘s Sense of Coherence (SOC).
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Antonovsky (1979) indicated that SOC comprises of three components
(comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness) and defined SOC as follows:
The sense of coherence is a global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that (1) stimuli deriving from one‘s internal and external environments in the course of living are structured, predictable, and explicable; (2) the resources are available to one to meet the demands posted by these stimuli; and (3) these demands are challenges, worthy of investment and engagement. (p. 19)
An individual‘s SOC strength can be regarded as a critical element in the structure of an individual‘s personality. This personality structure facilitates the coping and adaption process (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987) and therefore Antonovsky‘s SOC theory relates to the adaptive capacity of human beings (Griffiths, Ryan & Foster, 2010). Kortokov (1998) pointed out that Antonovsky‘s SOC emphasises that the availability of individual choice making experiences strengthens the individual‘s SOC, enabling the individual to adapt and cope when facing life stressors. By taking Antonovsky‘s definition of SOC into consideration, the researcher will seek to explore how Jobs‘ SOC contributed to the formulation of goal formation, creativity and sense of superiority, as identified by Adlerian theory, as a means of ‗choice making‘ leading to the significant life lived.
Primary aim of the research. Considering that psychobiographical research is exploratory-descriptive research, the primary aim of the present study is to explore and describe the life of Steven Paul Jobs. His psychosocial development, in the context of his lived live, is explored from the theoretical perspectives of Alfred Adler‘s theory of Individual
Psychology (1929) and Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987). These provide a clear yet broad picture of this significant figure and modern day icon in the world of technology. The aim of the proposed study is not to generalise the findings to a larger population, but instead to generalise the findings of the research to the selected theoretical approaches. 5
The researcher’s personal passage. The current research developed out of a personal curiosity about the man behind the news headlines and technological revolution. According to Howe (1997) a psychobiographical study provides the researcher with a scientific approach to discover what makes an individual extraordinary. Jobs‘ wilful stubbornness in forging his own path, his refusal to accept the status quo, and unwillingness to settle for mediocrity marked by contradiction resonated with the researcher. In one of numerous interviews with
Isaacson (2011) Jobs noted the following:
If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you‘ve done and whoever you were and throw them away. The more the outside world tries to reinforce an image of you, the harder it is to continue to be an artist, which is why a lot of times, artists have to say, ―Bye. I have to go. I‘m going crazy and I‘m getting out of here.‖ And they go and hibernate somewhere. Maybe later they re-emerge a little differently. (p.111)
It is this stubborn refusal to accept less than one‘s best lived life tainted by contradiction and ambivalence that attracted the researcher not only to the research subject but also to the research method. This enticed the researcher to externalise her journey to find her voice not only as a psychologist but as a researcher attempting to forge life story research and creative interpretation underpinned by scientific research method.
A brief introduction to Steven Paul Jobs (1955 – 2011). Jobs was born February 24,
1955, in San Francisco, California in the United States of America. He was born to university students and given up to adoptive parents Paul and Clara Jobs. Jobs‘ adoptive parents were a lower-middle-class couple whom were not university educated (Moisescot, 2012). Jobs grew up in The Santa Clara County, which became known as Silicon Valley in the early 1950s, housing large technological corporations and high-tech businesses that later formed the hub of the American technical sector. Growing up in this neighbourhood, surrounded by engineers and other technologically-minded individuals, stimulated Jobs‘ interest in technology and innovation and would later prove instrumental in the role Jobs would play in 6 the technological advances in the modern world. At 13 years of age (as a junior in high school), Jobs met arguably one of the most influential people of his life time – eighteen year old Stephen Wozniak (Woz). Woz was an electronic whiz-kid not unlike Jobs and would become a loyal friend and business partner. When Jobs was 18 years of age he enrolled at a liberal arts college - Reed College - against the wishes of his adoptive parents. Jobs‘ attendance at Reed College was short lived as he was more interested in pursuing enlightenment through eastern philosophy, fruitarian diets and drug use. Shortly thereafter
Jobs joined a hippie commune where he devoted himself to picking apples (Isaacson, 2011).
Upon Jobs‘ return to California he was hired as a video game designer. He was not popular with his colleagues as he frequently pointed out others‘ inadequacies and refused to wear deodorant due to his strict fruitarian diet and spiritual beliefs. This search for spiritual connectedness and meaning left him disillusioned and he soon regained interest in Woz‘s new activities. On 1 April 1976, Apple Computer was founded by Jobs and Woz from the garage of Jobs‘ parents. Jobs gained venture capital from former Intel executive Mike
Markkula and soon turned Apple into a success story. At the age of twenty five, Jobs‘ net worth was over $200 million, merely five years after the start of the company. As Jobs continued to enjoy professional success, his volatile temper and lack of managerial experience proved to remain a challenge throughout his career, eventually resulting in Jobs being stripped from all operational duties at Apple in 1985. Jobs‘ resigned from Apple in
September 1985, selling all but one of his Apple shares. Subsequent to Jobs‘ departure from
Apple, he worked on numerous successful projects, including buying a new ‗hobby‘ Pixar.
In 1996, Jobs bought back a struggling Apple Computers for $400 million. It is here where
Jobs remained for the remainder of his working life, while running Pixar.
Jobs was diagnosed with cancer in October of 2003 (Smith, 2011). His health steadily declined over the following five years, resulting in a liver transplant in April 2009 (Isaacson, 7
2011). Jobs announced his resignation as Apple‘s Chief Executive Officer in August 2011 stating ―I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple‘s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come." Jobs continued to work for Apple until the day before his death six weeks later on 5 October, 2011 (Biddle, 2011).
Steven Paul Jobs (1955 - 2011), an entrepreneur, inventor and co-founder, chairman and
CEO of Apple Incorporated, revolutionised personal computing. Ranked as Forbes‘ (2010) seventeenth most powerful global person and Man of the Year by The Financial Times
(2010), Jobs‘ contribution to modern technology is widely acknowledged and revered.
Overview of the structure of the study. The study consists of seven chapters, the first being an introduction. Chapter 2 provides a theoretical overview of psychobiography and the relationship between psychology and biographical research. Chapter 3 provides a description of Adler‘s Individual Psychology (1929) and Aaron Antonovksy‘s Sense of Coherence
(1987) by elaborating on these theories applicability to human development. Chapter 4 provides an account of Steven Paul Jobs‘ lived life noting the key life experiences of a significant life. The methodological considerations, and the research design and methodology followed in the present study are discussed in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 provides an integration of Steven Paul Jobs‘ life with the selected theories of the studies in order to illuminate the significant life lived. In conclusion, Chapter 7 presents a discussion of the conclusions and limitations of this research and provides recommendations for further research.
Conclusion
This chapter outlined the research study framework by introducing the reader to Steven
Paul Jobs, the theoretical frameworks of Adler and Antonovsky, the justification for psychobiography and outlined a general picture of the relationships between the 8 aforementioned concepts. The research problem was defined and the researcher‘s personal passage considered. Chapter 2 provides a detailed account of Psychobiography as a significant method of psychological study, addressing issues inherent to this approach by clarifying related concepts, noting criticisms and benefits inherent to the approach.
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CHAPTER 2
AN OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOBIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH
Chapter Preview
This chapter aims to provide an overview of the psychobiographical approach to qualitative research. In so doing, the chapter will address issues inherent to the psychobiographical research approach by clarifying related concepts, noting criticisms and benefits inherent to the approach. In addition, a brief account of the development of the psycho-biographical approach to the study of lives will be provided.
Psychobiography and Related Concepts Fouché and Van Niekerk (2010) explained that the concept of psychobiography is derived from two separate terms: psychology and biography. In its essence, psychobiography is intrinsically interdisciplinary and concerned with the search for single, unique events and processes within a holistic context (Carlson, 1988; Van Niekerk, 2007). Psychobiography can be regarded as the application of psychological theory to provide an in-depth interpretation of a life (McAdams, 1988, 1994; Runyan, 1984; Schultz, 2005).
Van Niekerk (2007) indicated that an overview of psychobiography descriptions suggest that five common characteristics exist in psychobiographical research:
a. psychobiographies make use of qualitative data;
b. rather than taking a fragmented approach by focusing on selective episodes of the
subject‘s life, psychobiographers prefer a wide-ranging approach to the study of an
individual‘s life span;
c. the subjects of psychobiographies are identified by name, as opposed to those in
quantitative research where participants mostly remain anonymous;
d. psychobiographical researchers utilise biographical data that, generally, have been
collected by other researchers (historians and biographers); and 10
e. psychobiographers‘ collection of data is not concerned with solving pre-set research
problems, but rather because the information will contribute to the historical and
psychological understanding of the subject. The choice of the subject is based on the
exceptional contribution of famous, exemplary or enigmatic individuals (Howe,
1997).
Elms (1994) argued that psychobiography is a significant method of social enquiry used to capture life narratives situated in time. Biographers and psychologists interest themselves in the developmental differences of individuals and attempt to extrapolate how persons develop into becoming exceptionally competent, creative and productive, or simply extraordinary (Howe, 1997; Runyan, 1982; Simonton, 1994). The psychobiography may then be regarded as ―the systematic use of psychological (especially personality) theory to transform a life into a coherent and illuminating story‖ (McAdams, 1994, p. 699).
Many concepts are closely interlinked with psychobiography. These concepts, as well as the differences between them, will now be clarified.
Biography. Elms (1994) noted that the tradition of the formal biography has evolved, shifting in style and emphasis. A biography, while either formal or more casual is style, is concerned with striking a balance between factual accuracy and telling a good story. It is to be noted that in the context of a biography, most biographers omit a psychological viewpoint, and the use of psychological theory and research is a secondary aim (Schultz, 2003).
McAdams (1994) has pointed out that biographers have tended to neglect their subject‘s human failings, focusing the biography around historical surface events, goals and ambitions of the subject.
Elms (1994) stated that the most significant changes in the field of biography came about when biographers started implementing the broad theories of personality as developed by psychiatry and psychology. These early approaches led to the concept now known as 11
‗psychobiography‘, which Elms (1994, p. 242) defined as ―biography that makes substantial use of psychological theory and knowledge‖.
Life histories. Rosenwald (1988) described life history research as an investigator‘s search to understand similarities among different individuals as opposed to seeking to understand the uniqueness of a single life. McAdams (2006) expanded on Rosenwald‘s
(1988) description of life histories by stating that while psychobiographies concentrate on one particular life, life histories examine the relationships across many lives. It can be inferred that this approach is a method for reconstructing experience as well as a mechanism for regenerating the experience of a self (Bourdieu, 1987). This process of regenesis enables the retelling of the life stories of a self in the context of life events (Roberts, 2002). Runyan
(1982) noted that the ‗life history method‘ has been subject to numerous criticisms. These criticisms include the views that life histories result in gaps in topical analysis, lack representativeness of informants and are prone to inaccurate retrospective reports.
Life narratives and life stories. Fouché and Van Niekerk (2005b) noted that the essential feature of life stories is the subjectivity of the narration. According to Shultz (2005, p17), a life story is the ―developing individual‘s own internalised and evolving narrative of the self‖. He continued to expand on this definition by explaining that a life story is subjective as told from the perspective of the subject. Life stories are thus not the objective account of the subject‘s life as told by an observer. The life story departs noticeably from the objective recounting of an individual‘s past and focuses on selective constructs that the subject deems worthy of selection. In essence, as stated by McAdams (1993) in Schultz
(2005, p.75) ―the life story is more like a personal myth than an objective biography even though the subject believes the story to be true‖. Commencing in late adolescence and early adulthood, life stories provide modern individuals with a narrative identity (Schultz, 2005). 12
Schultz (2005) cautioned that the interpretive story, as told by the psychobiographer, is unlikely to be similar to the story that the subject might tell. In other words, the third person narrative (the psychobiography itself) is not interchangeable with the first person (the subject) narrative identity. Psychobiographers‘ third-person explanations of their subjects should thus aim to reveal, interpret, integrate and critique the subject‘s narrative identities.
Psychohistories, historical psychology and historiographies. Psychohistory can be divided into two distinct categories – psychobiography (the study of individuals) and group psychohistory (study of psychological characteristics of groups) (Runyan, 1982).
Psychohistory employs psychological theory to aid in the historical interpretation of a political, cultural or social event (Berg, 1995). Historical psychology is different from psychohistory in that it researches the history of psychological phenomena by considering the psychological development and life course (Runyan, 1988b). Historiography or historical research is concerned with the past, seeking to reveal a question of current interest by studying existing material (Anderson, 1981). Historical research in not just a mere retelling of facts but involves a complex, systematic collection and objective evaluation of data related to past occurrences in order to explore research questions and recreate a meaningful collection of historical explanations for past events (Berg, 1995).
Case studies. A case study can be defined as ―a reconstruction and interpretation, based on the best evidence available, of part of the story of a person‘s life‖ (Bromley, 1977, p. 163 as cited in Runyan, 1982). Bromley (1986) stated that the psychological case study deals with particular events or emotional experiences; while psychobiography is focused on the whole person‘s lived life over time. Case studies are viewed as particularly useful for tasks such as developing idiographic interpretations of an individual‘s life experiences (Runyan,
1882). 13
Psychobiography, as an extension of case study research, suggests that individuals may be understood from a multitude of viewpoints. Schultz (2005) explained that the psychobiographer can:
a. seek to ascertain the effects of early life history on personality and
achievement;
b. identify habitual modes of psychological defence used by the subject;
c. identify life story sequences or the life themes utilized by the subject when
the subject talks about his life;
d. isolate formative events such as significant early experiences that appear to
underscore many of the subject's attitudes and concerns;
e. examine the subject‘s history of reinforcement and consequences as elicited by
the subject‘s behaviour in their environment;
f. reveal pervasive personality traits and underlying patterns of behaviour; or
g. illuminate common life roles resorted to by the subject as they reveal who they
are.
The effective use of the case study method requires not only the construction of explanations consistent with some of the evidence but also that preferred explanations are critically examined in light of all available evidence.
Criticism of the Psychobiographical Case Study Method
Both local (Stroud, 2004; Fouché, Van Niekerk & Fullard, 2005a) and international
(Runyan, 1982; Schultz, 2005) authors called for careful consideration of the potential research pitfalls inherent in the undertaking of the psychobiographical case study method.
Runyan (1982) explained that there is an underlying concern regarding the case study method and the likelihood of possible errors occurring through the use of the retrospective method.
Concerns regarding the value of retrospective reports for the use in scientific research is 14 strongly emphasised. The use of a qualitative research method rather than a quantitative research method is questioned as it has often been suggested that quantitative methods are a key feature of scientific endeavours. Questions regarding the subjective rather than objective use of data has been raised, with criticism specifically aimed at the mounting evidence suggesting biased introspective reporting methods. Finally, the place of case studies in the generation and testing of causal generalizations is questioned as the case study method is seen to have low internal validity and low external validity – making it challenging to generalize findings from a single case to the general population. The above mentioned criticisms of the psychobiographical case study method is elaborated on in Chapter 5, Research Design and
Methodology.
While Fouché and Van Niekerk (2010), in an article addressing past, present and future of academic psychobiography in South Africa, did not criticise the psychobiography as a research method, they noted challenges within the field of psychobiographical studies in a
South African context are to be considered:
a. an increase in studies on the lives of both great South Africans and Africans legendary
to the African continent;
b. the establishment and continual encouragement of academic psychobiography at
African universities;
c. psychobiographers publish their writings in the public domain in order to encourage
the perception of the usefulness and popularity of the field;
d. that psychobiography as a methodology should play an active and applied role in sub-
disciplines of psychology (developmental psychology, positive psychology, health
psychology, career psychology and personality psychology) where added evaluation
and development of South African theory can be fostered. 15
Fouché and Van Niekerk (2010) cautioned that the field of psychobiography runs the risk of becoming obscure in the South African context if it fails to go beyond academic borders in establishing itself as cross-culturally relevant.
The Value and Benefits of Psychobiographical Case Study Researchers in the field of psychobiography such as Alexander (1988), Carlson (1988),
Runyan (1988a) and McAdams (1994), emphasized the importance of psychobiographical research. The value and benefit of life history research and psychobiographical studies lie within five areas which will now be discussed.
Uniqueness of the individual case. Psychobiography tends to be morphogenic in nature, emphasising the individuality of the holistic person rather than individuality found in a single element of the person (Runyan, 1984). Due to this focus on individuality, psychobiographical research allows for a unique and holistic explanation of the research subject (Carlson, 1988; Elms, 1994). The individuality of the research subject is grounded within the subject‘s whole socio-historical context (Runyan, 1982a).
Socio-historical context. Roberts (2002) explained that the researcher is to place emphasis on the individual‘s socio-historical context, cultural experience, family history and socialization in order to develop a holistic understanding of the subject within the larger contextualized background of the lived life. This exploration of the socio-historical context is done within the framework of the psychobiography (Runyan, 1984). By means of purposeful and careful selection of life history materials, the detailed consideration of a variety of socio- historical contexts is allowed (Carlson, 1988).
Process and pattern over time. Finished lives enable the researcher to trace patterns of human development over a continuum of time, from birth until death (Carlson, 1988). A sure advantage of psychobiographical research is that it encourages the study of personality over a period of time, as opposed to the study of an individual at a specific point in time. Therefore, this results in the understanding of ‗working‘ personality in addition to highlighting dynamic 16 personality changes. In addition, reasons for these personality changes are to be taken into consideration as an aid to the holistic understanding of the subject (Fiske, 1988). Different dimensions of processes and functioning in various life situations across time are thus captured (Fouché & Van Niekerk, 2005b).
Subjective reality. Carlson (1971) noted that personality cannot be studied experimentally. In order to understand the subject, the researcher requires interpretation, not variable manipulation. In order to discover the subject‘s motives for behaviour, targeted ambitions or how the subject came to be, the researcher is required to read written works, journals and letters, talk to intimates and inspect creative work as produced by the subject.
According to Runyan (1984) the researcher‘s appreciation and understanding of the subjective reality of the subject facilitates researcher empathy and sympathy, allowing the researcher to produce a clear picture of the subject‘s lived life. Goodson and Sikes (2001) suggest that a successful psychobiography will confront the biographer with other people‘s subjective perceptions of the subject.
Theory testing and development. Psychobiography facilitates the development of new conceptual insights to theory generation in addition to refining and adding to existing theories
(Carlson, 1988; Edwards, 1998; Roberts, 2002). Schultz (2005) made reference to the
‗context of discovery‘ and ‗context of falsification‘. These terms, coined by Popper (1959), explain that psychobiograpies (as case study research) produce hunches and insights, eventually leading to formal propositions that can be tested against the general population.
Psychobiographical research thus offers a unique opportunity for the researcher and the body of psychology to gain a holistic understanding of the lived life of a socio-historically relevant subject within the subjects‘ context.
By means of psychobiography, psychological theory is tested. Theory, in essence, is what experiments (like a psychobiography) aim to refute or confirm. Thus, as explained by 17
Schultz (2005), single lives create a provocative stimulus and provide a medium for speculation. Elms (1994) argued that ‗relevance‘ is the key to research, explaining that lives are not lived in a laboratory – emphasising that the value of research lies in the meaning it generates. Life history material provides an ideal laboratory for testing and developing various theories of human development (Carlson, 1988).
Alfred Adler‘s theory of Individual Psychology (1929) in combination with Aaron
Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987) serve as models against which the researcher can compare and analyse the data collected. These then assist in the conceptualization and operationalizing of case data within the framework of theoretical constructs and allow for generalizing from the case study to the theory (Yin, 1994).
A Concise History of the Development of Psychobiography
Biography, which utilizes psychological theory to interpret public or historical subjects, has become increasingly prominent albeit a controversial topic. Prior to the 20th century, literary biographers seldom used psychological concepts to interpret subjects (McAdams,
1994). History appeared to be concerned only with the description of past events and phenomenon, portraying subjects as if free from human shortcomings, imperfection, desire and fantasy (McAdams. 1994).
The awakening of psychoanalysis provided its students with a means to make sense of childhood development and its impact on the adult‘s yearnings and frustrations (Runyan,
1982a). Freud‘s writing, titled Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood (1910), gave rise to the birth of psychobiography. Other works such as the analysis of Shakespeare as revealed through Hamlet (Jones, 1910), Martin Luther (Smith, 1913) and Socrates
(Karpas, 1915) soon followed suit (Runyan, 1982a).
The birth of the 1920s marked a distinct increase in the use of psychology in biography.
Typically these studies were regarded as an application of psychoanalysis (Runyan, 1982a). 18
Despite the criticism of reductionism, the production of psychoanalytical biographical works continued through the 1930s. This increase in psychobiographical analysis resulted in studies of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Moliere, Sand, Goethe, Coleridge, Nietzsche, Poe and Rousseau, and of public figures including Caesar, Lincoln, Napoleon, Darwin and Alexander the Great
(Anderson, 1978).
Authors such as Elms (1994) and Runyan (1984) noted that the 1940s to mid-1960s marked a respite in growth for the field of psychobiography. Arguably, this decrease in growth can be attributed to the increase in interest in quantitative and experimental research methods as opposed to the qualitative prospects offered by a psychobiographical study.
Despite the research trends of the 1950s and 1960s, Erikson produced analytical works on both Martin Luther (1959) and Mahatma Gandhi (1969). These studies noted the significant influence psychosocial and socio-historical contexts bore on the development of man as a whole being. These prominent studies were viewed to be witnesses to psychobiography‘s maturation (McAdams, 1988).
Runyan (1982, 1984), Elms (1988) and McAdams (2000) are in agreement that there has been a noteworthy increase in the amount of work in the social sciences that are concerned with the study of lived lives from the 1960s to present. Runyan (1988) noted that the increase in the field of psychobiography is due to a growing acceptance of the field as indicated by the establishment of professional organisations, conferences, speciality journals, and the producing of dissertations in the field. Roberts (2002) explained that the current growth in the field of psychobiography can be attributed to various factors, not least the growing disillusionment with static approaches to data collection.
Conclusion This chapter provided a brief overview of the psychobiographical approach to qualitative research. Issues inherent to the psychobiographical approach were considered by clarifying related concepts and noting criticisms and benefits inherent to the approach. In addition, a 19 brief account of the development of the psychobiographical approach to the study of lives was provided. Chapter 3 will provide an overview of Adler‘s Individual Psychology (1929) and
Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987).
20
CHAPTER 3
A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF ADLER’S INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY AND ANTONOVSKY’S SENSE OF COHERENCE
Chapter Preview
This chapter will provide an overview of Alfred Adler‘s (1929) Individual Psychology and Aaron Antonovsky‘s (1987) Sense of Coherence (SOC) theory. The primary theoretical focus will be on Adler‘s Individual psychology while the researcher will draw on
Antonovsky‘s (SOC) in support and elaboration of Adlerian Individual Psychology principles. Adlerian theory will provide a dynamic perspective that enhances psychobiography, as opposed to a static psychodiagnostic view of the individual‘s pathology
(Carlson, 1988). In an attempt to address common criticisms that psychobiographies emphasise psychopathological processes at the expense of normal and creative processes
(Runyan, 1984), the psychobiographer will include Antonovsky‘s (1987) Sense of Coherence as the supplementary theoretical approach in the analysis of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs as addressed in Chapter 6.
By drawing on the theoretical contribution that Aaron Antonovsky (1987) made to the body of psychology, the researcher will endeavour to analyse the lived life of Jobs through a salutogenic lens. According to Antonovsky (1987), the salutogenic orientation postulates that an individual does not merely function in a dichotomous healthy or diseased manner but that health is a multidimensional continuum. Antonovsky (1987) emphasised that by thinking salutogenically one will necessarily derive a theory of coping, leading to an individual‘s
SOC. By taking Antonovsky‘s definition of SOC into consideration, the researcher will seek to explore how Jobs‘ SOC contributed to the formulation of goal formation, creative power and striving from inferiority to superiority, as identified by Adlerian theory, as a means of
‗choice making‘ leading to the significant life lived. 21
Overview of Adler’s Individual Psychology
Adler‘s individual psychology will be the first theoretical perspective utilized to explore and describe Jobs‘ personality development. An overview of the individual as a holistic being is provided. In addition, the development of personality and related constitutional factors are addressed with consideration to inherent dynamic forces such as creative power, social context and optimal development as relevant to the understanding of the contextualised individual. The theoretical overview of Adler‘s individual psychology is concluded with a critique of Adler‘s contribution to developmental theory.
View of the person. Alfred Adler‘s Individual Psychology had its origins in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. While Adler started his career as an ophthalmologist in 1898, he later applied himself to the fields of general practice, neurology and finally psychiatry. Adler
(1870 – 1937) displayed a lasting interest in child rearing practices, instructing parents and educators in following, what he considered, important principles for child guidance
(Sweeney, 2009). Adler‘s association with Freud and his teaching is well documented
(Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956; Sweeney, 2009). Freud‘s influence on Adler is reflected through Adler‘s work, which, as Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956, p. 4) explained, ―was developed as an antithesis to that of Freud‖.
The Individual Psychology of Adler can be regarded as depth psychology. The implication of depth psychology is an acknowledgement of the dynamic psychology present in the unconscious. However, unlike Freud, Adler viewed the unconscious not as a separate entity but as a part of the individual‘s striving which he does not understand (Ansbacher &
Ansbacher, 1956). Gladding (2004) noted that Freudian and Adlerian theories differ in the following ways: Psychoanalysis is biologically based and centred on causality, psychosexual development, psychological dynamics and instincts. On the other hand, Adlerian theory 22 places an emphasis on social context, interpersonal relationships and subjective experience with a strong focus on the future, holism, equalitarianism and choice.
Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) identified basic propositions inherent to Individual
Psychology as noted below:
a. An individual‘s striving from a feeling of inferiority towards a feeling of superiority is
a singular dynamic force that informs all human activity.
b. A goal or self-ideal which is unique to the individual directs the striving from
inferiority to superiority. This striving towards a goal or self-ideal is in part
influenced by biological and environmental factors but is in essence the individual‘s
own creation, thus resulting in a fictional goal or self-ideal.
c. The goal or self-ideal is contained within the unconscious of the individual and is thus
partially unknown to the individual.
d. The goal or self-ideal becomes the ultimate independent variable, a key to
understanding the individual.
e. Psychological processes form a self-consistent personality structure that is firmly
established at an early age. This style of life influences behaviours (contradictory at
times) which culminates in the individual‘s attempt to achieve the fictional goal.
f. All psychological components of the individual (drives, conscious, unconscious)
represent aspects of an integrated relational system and are not separate entities.
g. Behavioural determinants (like biological factors and past history) are relevant to the
goal in offering probabilities, in combination with the style of life, for attainment of
the fictional goal.
h. The individual‘s view of the world and self (apperceptive schema), interpretations and
style of life aspects influence all psychological processes. 23
i. The individual cannot be viewed in isolation from his social milieu. Individual
Psychology is concerned with the social embeddedness of the individual.
j. All important life problems are regarded as social problems; individual values are
regarded as social values.
k. Socialization of the individual is not due to repression but as a result of innate human
capacity (social feeling/ social interest) that requires development. Social adjustment
becomes crucial due to the individual‘s rooting in the social milieu.
l. Increased inferiority feelings, underdeveloped social interest and the socially
uncooperative goal of personal superiority is seen as maladjustment.
The propositions and related concepts, as suggested above, will be expanded upon in sections
3.2.1 – 3.2.8.
Individual Psychology developed in an attempt to comprehend the illusive creative power of life, evident in the individual‘s expression of self and the drive to achieve and compensate for defeats. This creative power is teleological as it expresses itself in the bodily and psychic cooperation towards striving after a goal (Adler, 1930). Sweeney (2009) noted that Adler viewed human beings as worthwhile, socially motivated, and capable of creative, independent action. Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) cautioned against viewing Adler as merely a subjective, reductionist psychologist attempting to trace dynamic forces to a physiological origin - Adler‘s method of observing the phenomenological combined with the objective behaviouristic approach underpins Individual Psychology. The aforementioned is best illustrated by Adler (1929):
By starting with the assumption of the unity of the individual, an attempt is made to obtain a picture of this unified personality regarded as a variant of the individual life- manifestations and forms of expression. The individual traits are then compared with one another, brought into common plane, and finally fused together to form a composite portrait that is, in turn, individualized. (p. 2)
24
Structure of personality. Adler viewed personality as a functional unit, moving toward self-determined goals. Thus, he did not utilize unequivocal structural concepts to explain human functioning (1929, 1930). The dynamism of Adlerian theory cannot be staged as the unity of personality requires the integrated influence of various factors on the person at any time. According to Adler each individual possesses constitutional attributes and an innate creative self that interplays with the social environment (Meyer & Viljoen, 2003).
Constitutional attributes. Adler was of the opinion that no life-expression can be viewed in isolation, but must always be regarded in relation to the total personality which is directed towards the individualized goal of superiority (Adler, 1929). Fixing this goal of superiority must take place during the formative period of childhood in order to allow for the development of a ‗prototype‘ for a matured personality (Adler, 1930). Once the personality
‗prototype‘ is established, the child becomes orientated towards achieving the final goal.
Numerous authors (Adler, 1929, 1930; Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956; Meyer & Viljoen,
2003) stated that it is essential to note that Adler did not regard genetic attributes as a decisive factor determining development but rather as an influencing factor. In essence, transferred genetics merely provide the individual with abilities that uniquely interact with the environment and the creative self in cultivating human development. Meyer and Viljoen
(2003) emphasise that individuals compensate for real or perceived organic weakness by creatively determining a fictional goal of superiority.
Inferiority and compensation. Adler‘s initial focus was on the impact that organ inferiority (imperfect organs) had on the developing child‘s self-esteem (Ansbacher &
Ansbacher, 1956). Adler (1958) explained that the weakness a child experiences due to organ inferiority, motivates the child to express the interpreted organ inferiorities based on previous experiences. This subjective interpretation thus informs the final goal to be achieved in order to allow the individual to compensate for the felt sense of inferiority. 25
Boeree (2006) notes that individual creativity will allow for compensation by means of (1) strengthening the weak organ beyond that of other individuals; (2) developing another organ to an extraordinary extent; or (3) he may develop supplementary skills allowing for psychological adaptation (Boeree, 2006).
Adler later recognized that individuals hold psychological inferiorities in addition to organ inferiorities and argued that psychological inferiorities may play a more determinant role in the development of the individual (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Adler (1982) assumed a feeling of inferiority for everyone, distinguishing between ‗the normal inferiority feeling‘ and
‗the abnormal inferiority feeling‘ or ‗inferiority complex‘ as discussed in 3.2.3.2. Adler
(1930) noted that the earliest indications of normal inferiority feelings can usually be traced to the child‘s smallness and dependence in a world of adults. Sweeney (2009) is of the opinion that children‘s responses to early experiences within the family will naturally have implications for how they would approach life tasks in future.
Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) concisely stated that ―to be human means to feel inferiority‖ (p. 115), explaining that every child is born inferior and could simply not continue to exist without expressed social interest from others. The beginning of every psychological life is thus marked with varying degrees of deep inferiority feelings due, in part, to the child‘s exposure to an environment of adults which leads the child to regard himself as weak and small. However, the mediating factor to these felt feelings of deep inferiority is the child‘s urge to arrive at a more satisfactory state. While feelings of inferiority are not necessarily positive or negative, they often motivate individuals to move toward mastery and competence in compensation of these feelings (Sweeney, 2009), and serves as a platform for human development (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).
26
Complexes. Adler (1958) expanded on his view of inferiority by suggesting that feelings of inferiority are in response to an individual‘s perceived inability to live up to their own standards of perfection. Problems experienced by an adult would thus trigger the feelings of inferiority contained within the childhood inferiority framework and will likely be exacerbated by a final goal of perfection. Adler (1929, 1930, 1958) noted that individuals who become exceedingly overwhelmed by and fixated on feelings of inferiority develop an
‗inferiority complex‘. An individual with an inferiority complex does not manage to adequately alleviate feelings of inferiority by moving towards mastery of the life goal.
Compensation is not achieved and thus does not lead to further development.
In addition to developing an inferiority complex, Adler (1930) pointed out that the individual may develop a superiority complex in search of an adequate compensatory mechanism. Adler (1929) explained that a superiority complex occurs when an individual pretends to be superior to others in order to compensate for the exaggerated sense of experienced inferiority that cannot be regulated. Adler (1958) noted that the false sense of superiority is likely to lead to disengagement from the social environment.
Social environment. Adler (1929) emphasised that humans are social beings, containing within themselves a natural striving toward other people. This is evident in the early dependent experiences and throughout life. The natural striving towards others becomes increasingly important when one considers that human beings can be understood best as they interact with others (Sweeney, 2009). Being human necessarily exposes the individual to feelings of inferiority. Every child is born inferior and could simply not continue to exist without expressed social interest from others (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). The child‘s social context comprises of the cultural values and experiences within the family constellation (Adler, 1929, 1930). It can therefore be inferred that the individual lifestyle develops in the social context in an attempt to create a sense of self in the world. 27
Adler (1930) explained that the ―individual becomes an individual only in a social context‖ (p. 215). Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) emphasised Adler‘s view that the individual is viewed as a self-determining being, a being who gives meaning to experiences in striving towards the final goal. It becomes important to keep in mind that even though the environment will influence the development of personality, the environment will not determine what people become, emphasising the self-determinance of the individual (Boeree,
2006).
Birth order. All methods of Individual Psychology are concerned with understanding the individual within their uniquely individual context. Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) cautioned against assuming that children from the same family are formed in the same environment. Consideration of the position of the child in the birth order becomes significant in understanding the individual holistically. Individual Psychology is not concerned with the child‘s number in the order of births per se, but with the situation into which the child is born and how the child makes sense of this. Adler noted that individuals who held similar positions in different families assumed similar characteristics, attitudes and behaviours
(1958). Sweeney (2009) stated that the differences in age, gender, number of siblings and cultural values attributed to gender roles require careful consideration when attempting to understand the psychological position of the child within the family.
First-born or oldest children are described as spoiled and continually craving to be the centre of attention due to the great deal of attention they received when they initially entered the family (Adler, 1958). Upon arrival of the second-born child, there is an unexpected decline in attention, resulting in the first-born experiencing intense feelings of
‗dethronement‘. First born children often show an interest in the past and generally understand the importance of power and authority within the context of relationships
(Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). 28
Older children generally develop a striving to protect and help others and often develop a great talent for organization. However, this striving to protect others may also be exaggerated into a desire to control others (Adler, 1958). Oldest children generally find it easy to relate to adults and will subscribe to adult expectations and values. Moreover, they readily assume responsibility and develop socially acceptable ways of coping with life‘s tasks. However, oldest children are likely to strive to for perfection as a guiding fictional- goal. The degree to which this childhood striving toward perfection is moderated over time will impact on the degree to which the adult will strive for perfection (Sweeney, 2009).
The second-born child holds a unique position in the family – unlike the oldest child the second-born shares their attention with another child from the time of their birth and is thus nearer to cooperation than an oldest child. The second-born child will typically adopt a role opposite to that of the first-born and may present as less responsible, more independent, more demanding of service and more interested in whatever the oldest does not pursue or master
(Sweeney, 2009). The second-born child will often display competitive behaviour in an attempt to surpass the first-born‘s level of development. This sibling rivalry often results in second-born children becoming socially productive, more talented and successful than the first-born. Such children may mistakenly regard their value as being attached to their level of productivity (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).
Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) noted that other children in the family (not the first- born) are less likely to experience feelings of dethronement when newborn siblings enter the family system since they have already had the experience of cooperating with another child.
The youngest child can never be dethroned and is probably the most pampered, receiving large amounts of stimulation from various family members. ―Youngest children are always ambitious; but the most ambitious children of all are the lazy children‖ (Adler, 1958, p.151).
According to Adler (1958), laziness is a sign of ambition fused with discouragement. Often 29 the youngest child refrains from admitting to any ambition due to their wish to excel in every undertaking. While youngest children often develop in extraordinary ways due to their ambitious drive and high level of stimulation and attention they receive from family, they are often very dependent on others and may suffer from extreme inferiority feelings.
Adler (1958) noted that children who are spaced many years apart from each other will have some features consistent with that of an only child. An only child is likely to thrive on being the centre of attention and will generally spend a significant amount of time in the company of adults. The only child faces unique challenges. Ansbacher and Ansbacher
(1956) noted that instead of competing with siblings, the only child competes with his father for the mother‘s attention. Such children desire to conquer their father and prefer spending time with people older than themselves. The only child is often pampered by the mother as she desires to keep him under her constant attention. Due to this ‗mother complex‘ the only child generally rejects the notion of the addition of another child to the family as he feels entitled to be the centre of all attention. Only children are likely to appear mature for their age, responsible, cooperative and evidence mastery in cognitive skills. Their most likely perceived deficiency will be in relating to their peer group and mastery of imagination due to their evident preference to spend time with older people. Unlike other children, only children may display a limited degree of cooperation with their peers, resulting in challenging early school experiences as they are required to cope with new life situations in the context of their peer relations (Sweeney, 2009).
Faulty lifestyles. Adler regarded the basic notions that direct individuals though life as the lifestyle (Sweeney, 2009). Developing children receive impressions from their environment and bodies. Based on perceptions they draw from environmental and bodily impressions, children form an opinion of the world and themselves which in turn, influence the decided final goal (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). This formed lifestyle prototype then 30 serve as a template against which all experiences are then interpreted. Adler (1958) explained that faulty life styles result due to misinterpretation of events made within the social context of a faulty family atmosphere. Adler (1930, 1958) was of the opinion that physical inferiority, neglect and pampering interfere with the development of the child‘s social interest, leading to a faulty lifestyle.
Due to the faulty lifestyle that is adopted, a failure to function in a social context is often illustrated in the behaviour of criminals (Adler, 1930). The mistaken attitude towards life is born in the family environment and gives rise to an inferiority complex, resulting in the evasion of life tasks in order to achieve success (Adler, 1958). The final goal then becomes one of superiority and does not contribute to societal goals. Adler (1930) notes that features of the lifestyle are already present at ages four or five and is thus difficult to change.
However, the lifestyle can only be changed by the individuals understanding of the mistakes he has made.
Creative self. Every child is born with heredity potential to a specific environment, however, Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) argued that the creative power of the individual is a much stronger mediating factor in how the child develops within his context. This creative power will in essence work with the child to make sense of influences and overcome obstacles. This creative power is felt as an impulse driving the child towards adaptation to felt inferiority (Adler, 1929) and towards the establishment of a self-consistent goal (Adler,
1930). Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) best describe the dynamic between the individual and creativity:
Each individual represents both a unity of personality and the individual fashioning of that unity. The individual is thus both the picture and the artist. He is the artist of his own personality, but as an artist he is neither an infallible worker nor a person with a complete understanding of mind and body; he is rather a weak, extremely fallible, and imperfect human being. (p. 177)
31
The Lifestyle.
Development of lifestyle. Adler regards personality as unified and self-consistent, but placed emphasis on the fact that an individual‘s subjective perceptions shape behaviour and personality. The individual‘s self-consistent personality structure develops into a style of life that is moulded by the individual‘s creative power. Due to the individual‘s socially embedded nature, the complexity of the individual‘s personality cannot be understood independent of the social context, including heredity and environmental influences (Adler, 1930). The style of life is developed in earliest childhood and initially experienced through the validity of his bodily movements and capacities (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Experiences within the family contribute to the development of a self-consistent way to perceive, think, feel and behave (Adler, 1929). Lifestyle includes the individual‘s goal, self-concept, social feeling and attitude to the world (Corey, 2005). ―The perceptions and recollections of one‘s first 6 to
8 years of life will reveal his or her psychological position, for it is during these years, Adler observed, that the lifestyle is formed‖ (Sweeney, 2009, p.14).
The individual is propelled by striving towards the final goal – as a result of a unique world view integrated with the lifestyle. Adler (1958) was of the opinion that the individual will face three major life tasks: work, friendship and love. It is the individual‘s response to these life tasks that reveal his sense of the meaning of life. Sweeney (2009) adds that the concepts of spirituality and self-direction are two additional tasks that the individual will face in response to his lifestyle and in the development of self-consistency. The individual‘s lifestyle (unique set of convictions about the self, life and others) provides the template the individual uses to guide himself towards achievement of the basic life tasks. It is to be noted that Adler (1958) was of the opinion that these life problems cannot be solved in isolation of each other but require a holistically successful approach toward all tasks. 32
According to Adler (1958), a mother is the first influence in the development of her children‘s career interests and the ―efforts and training of the first four or five years of life are decisive for the child‘s main sphere of action in adult life‖ (p. 242). The individual‘s memories of this time are likely to reveal a prototype and scheme of apperception. The next stage of training is undertaken by the schooling system. The way in which the individual approaches their life task of ‗work‘ is determined by the individual‘s lifestyle. Societal expectations dictate that children will grow to be responsible and cooperative adults who are able to effectively manage life situations. A lack of work success leads to discouragement
(Sweeney, 2009). Adler (1958) notes that some individuals may never be satisfied with any occupation they choose – their wish is thus not that of work fulfilment but an effort to gain a guarantee of superiority. According to Dreikurs (1986) in Sweeney (2009, p.17) ―to face and fulfil one‘s life tasks requires courage to be imperfect, to make mistakes, to fail occasionally but to try again‖.
Discouragement is not specific to any one life task. Individuals generally have the means to manage the daily requirements of work but doubts and fears may reveal themselves only at times. However, according to Sweeney (2005)
Friendship and intimate love relationships tend to be more demanding of cooperation, give and take, and respect. If an individual has persistent difficulties in either or both of these life tasks, discouragement is present that probably can be noted in the other areas as well. (p.17)
Sweeney (2009) notes that love relationships require the most courage and faith in self and the other than the other four life tasks. Adler (1958) eloquently pointed out that:
Love, with its fulfilment, marriage, is the most intimate devotion towards a partner of the other sex, expressed in physical attraction, in comradeship, and in the decision to have children. It can easily be shown that love and marriage are one side of cooperation – not a cooperation for the welfare of two persons only, but a cooperation also for the welfare of mankind. (p. 263)
33
Values such as respect, appreciation, and caring for the other partner in the love relationship should be expressed or demonstrated in order to maintain and grow the relationship. Effective conflict management and decision making competencies are vital. In the context of a relationship, the individual‘s weaknesses, fears and eccentricities will come under more severe examination than in other life situations.
Sweeney (2009, p. 20) defines spirituality as ―an awareness of a being or force that transcends the material aspects of life and gives a deep sense of wholeness or connectedness to the universe‖. The life task of spirituality is primarily concerned with the individual‘s search to find a purpose and a meaning to life. Sweeney (2005, p.18) emphasises that ―As
Adler had noted, once the individuals understood their own movement through life, they could decide to change their attitudes and behaviour with renewed respect for themselves and one another‖. Spirituality is a central component to longevity and life quality as are questions regarding the purpose and meaning of life.
The task of self-direction is concerned with the individual‘s effectiveness in coping and is underpinned by the individual‘s basic attitudes and convictions with regard to their final goal and self-ideal. The individual‘s level of self-direction will present in the manner in which the individual ―regulates, disciplines, and directs the self in daily activities and in pursuit of long- range goals. It refers to a sense of mindfulness and intentionality in meeting the major tasks of life‖ (Sweeney, 2009, p. 20). According to Adler (1929) the individual is directed by a striving that provides the template of the integrated life prototype and goal. Corey (2005) elaborates on Adler‘s notion by stating that the individual‘s lifestyle or attempted deviation from the lifestyle significantly impacts on the individual‘s present behaviour as directed towards the life tasks. Continuity in behaviour and the meaning attributed to life by the individual will likely be noted in themes running throughout life (Adler, 1958). The individual‘s behaviour patterns and methods of coping with life challenges contribute to self- 34 direction and can be referred to as positive personality traits that contribute to a stress- resistant personality (Sweeney, 2009).
Lifestyle types. The individual‘s lifestyle (unique set of convictions about the self, life and others) provides the template the individual uses to guide themselves towards achievement of basic life tasks: work, friendship, love, self-regulation and spirituality
(Sweeney, 2009). Adler (1982) indicated that the following principles guide the grouping of individuals into lifestyle types:
a) the degree to which their life approach is directed toward social integration, and
b) the degree (active or passive) of movement the individual develops in order to
maintain the specific lifestyle approach they regard as most likely to result in success
as determined by their unique interpretation.
Four lifestyle types were identified by Adler (1982) – classified according to the individual‘s attitudes and behaviours towards life tasks and the degree of social interest and movement toward success. These four lifestyle types illuminate the attitude and behaviours individuals generate in response toward outside problems. Adler (1929) emphasised that
―We do not consider human beings as types, because every person has an individual style of life. If we speak of types, therefore it is only as an intellectual device to make more understandable the similarities of individuals‖ (p.102). Each lifestyle type retains their style from childhood till death unless the individual is convinced of the mistaken creation of his attitude toward reality (Adler, 1982).
Ruling type. The first type Adler (1982) identified was the ruling type – such individuals approach reality with a dominant or ‗ruling‘ attitude across their entire lifespan and across all relationships. This type is generally marked by a selfish striving for power and active efforts to fulfil goals. Such individuals often display antisocial and power-seeking behaviour but show limited social interest (Adler, 1958). Boeree (2006) explained that less active ruling 35 types hurt others by inflicting pain on themselves through means of suicide and addiction.
Active manifestation of the ruling type is observable as delinquency, tyranny and sadism
(Adler, 1982).
Getting or leaning type. Adler (1982) identified the second most prevalent lifestyle type as the getting or leaning type. This type ―expects everything from others and leans on others‖
(Adler, 1982, p.4). This type generally displays low activity with higher levels of social interest. While this type may adopt socially-orientated goals, they are unlikely to pursue these goals as they lack initiative (Meyer & Viljoen, 2003). Ansbacher and Ansbacher
(1956) note that getting or leaning types are often charming and use this charm as a means to achieve life tasks but generally lack independence and self-motivation.
Avoiding type. The avoidant type functions by avoiding not only solutions to life‘s tasks but also avoiding social interaction. Rather than struggling with a life problem in an attempt to derive a solution, the avoiding type will evade the problem in an effort to avoid defeat.
These individuals show low activity and low social interest (Adler, 1982). Ansbacher and
Ansbacher (1956) state that such individuals have significant difficulty with solving the five life tasks of work, love, friendship, self-regulation and spirituality as they generally lack the ability to cooperate and contribute to society (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). The getting and avoiding types typically exhibit their lifestyle through neurotic and psychotic symptoms and exhibit what is defined as the useless side of life (Adler, 1982). Such individuals have significant difficulty in solving the five life tasks due to their inability to cooperate and contribute to society (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).
Socially useful type. While the ruling, getting and avoiding types are not prepared to solve life problems and lack the ability for cooperation and contribution (social interest), the socially useful type is prepared for cooperation and contribution which is directed activity for the benefit of others. Adler (1985) noted that the socially useful individual shows high social 36 interest and is generally regarded as coping well with life tasks within a framework of social interest. The activity displayed by the socially useful type is ―in agreement with the needs of others; it is useful, normal, rightly embedded in the stream of evolution of mankind‖ (Adler,
1982, p.5). Thus the socially useful type noticeably struggles and strives for solutions to problems that are beneficial to the greater social context (Adler, 1982).
Striving for superiority. Individuals‘ behaviour is driven by their struggle for success or superiority. The striving towards a state of superiority is initiated by an experience of perceived inferiority linked to childhood and family experiences – this striving toward superiority thus becomes an attempt to compensate for felt inferiority (Adler, 1929, 1930).
Adler (1929, 1930) was of the conviction that the individual‘s striving for superiority is the basic motivation of human functioning and viewed all behaviour as purposive, unified and energized by the upward drive towards superiority, mastery and significance from a subjective sense of inferiority.
The unique ways in which individuals advance a style of striving to compensate for a perceived weakness constitutes individuality (Adler, 1929; Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).
Striving towards superiority in essence allows the individual to exercise his unique creative power in navigating paths consistent with the lifestyle, moving towards the life goal (Adler,
1929). According to Adler (1930) striving towards superiority and mastery is a dynamic and purposeful exercise directed towards a striving for power and social interest. It is important to remain cognizant of the fact that Adler (1929) regarded the dynamic striving of each individual as directed not merely at obtaining individual power but also at contributing towards communal human development.
Striving for power. The striving for power can be understood as the individual‘s attempt to fulfil a desire for enhanced self-esteem. The nature and extent of the individual‘s inferiority (organ or psychological) depends on the perception of the perceived weakness in 37 addition to the individual‘s reaction to the perceived weakness (Ansbacher & Ansbacher,
1956). The way in which the child chooses to overcome both the felt inferiority and manner in which he self-improves is uniquely creative to the child (Adler, 1929, 1930). Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) emphasised that the child‘s desire to contribute to the greater social context in a manner that goes beyond attempts to solely increase his own power, can successfully compensate for defects. Difficulties will present as mere obstacles to conquer on the way to success and power.
Corey (2005) emphasised that individuals derive meaning from their lives through the contributions they make to society in response to life tasks. Adler (1930, 1958) noted that the creative power of the individual will encourage the individual to strive towards the direction of the unique fictional goal. Creativity or creative power serves as a tool which allows the individual to compensate for a perceived defect in one instance while achieving success in another. The self-consistent personality allows for teleological striving which included the cooperation of bodily and psychological movements in pursuit of power.
Social interest. A key focus of Individual Psychology is the concept of social interest.
The individual is required to strive, within the context of a unique lifestyle, to overcome a felt sense of inferiority (Adler, 1929). This striving is in response to the need of the individual to move from a feeling of inferiority towards a feeling of superiority. Adler (1958) maintained that social embeddedness or social interest is the characteristic that underpins all striving behaviour. Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956, p.133) defined social interest as ―the innate aptitude through which the individual becomes responsive to reality, which is primarily the social situation‖.
According to Adler (1929, 1930, 1958) social interest is an inborn potential, but he emphasised that this potential requires conscious development. The development of social interest within the child is the function of the mother, allowing the child to meet the 38 challenges of social living (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Adler (1929) explained that the individual‘s capacity for social interest can be regarded as a psychological trait which allows the individual to strive toward superiority and perfection. Social interest can also be regarded as a ―social feeling, fellow feeling, sense of solidarity, social sense and communal intuition‖
(Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956, p.134). In practice, social interest relates to the individual‘s awareness of being part of the human community; identification and sense of belonging to a social context; and an attitude to deal with the social world (Ansbacher, 1992).
Dreikurs Ferguson (2003) was of opinion that the individual‘s goals are inherently and undeniably social. These goals symbolically represent the individual‘s relationship with other humans. Social interest can be regarded as the measuring stick against which the lifestyle may be measured to be either functional or dysfunctional (Ansbacher & Ansbacher,
1956). Individuals who display a socially useful lifestyle also display a high level of social interest and are regarded as empathic, cooperative and courageous in the manner in which they deal with life obstacles (Adler, 1929, 1930). Expressions of social distress can fulfil a functional role. Dreikurs Ferguson (2003) noted that individual psychology takes the individual‘s life demands in account by explaining that Adlerian practice takes into consideration the way the individual is coping and how these coping mechanisms are adaptive to meet the social context demands, emphasising the cognitions the individual has about the self and others.
Adler (1930) identified that an absence of social interest resulted in self-absorption, egocentric behaviour as well as over-identification with the self in the context of intra- and interpersonal challenges. Such individuals will thus experience significant challenges in dealing with the five life challenges (work, friendship, love, spirituality and the self- regulation) resulting in a lack of self-consistency. Moore and Watson (2001) note that expressing distress can lead to a reduction in the individual‘s discomfort; it may facilitate 39 insight regarding the felt distress and can affect interpersonal relationships that assist in the reduction of distress. Corey (2005) noted that Adler did not place an emphasis on psychopathology. Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956) reported that Adler viewed neurotics and criminals (individuals with a lack of social interest) as discouraged, striving toward personal superiority for individual rather than communal power.
Optimal development. Individuals strive toward a final goal that is either personal superiority or the goal of success for all humankind. The final goal is fictional and therefore has no objective existence but has immense significance because it unifies personality and therefore provides a comprehensible framework for the individual‘s behaviour (Adler, 1929).
The individual‘s self-consistent personality structure develops into a style of life that is moulded by the individual‘s creative power. ―This style is the creation of the child himself, who uses inheritance and impressions of the environment as bricks in building his particular avenue for success – success according to his own interpretation‖ (Adler, 1982, p.5).
Adler (1982) noted the following with regards to the optimal development of the individual:
He sees all his problems from a perspective which is his own creating. He sees the environment which trains him, with his own self-created perspective, and accordingly changes its effect upon him for better or worse. There is a task in life which no individual can escape. It is to solve a great number of problems…The manner in which an individual behaves toward these problems – that is his answer to the problems of life. Life (and all psychic expressions as part of life) moves ever toward ―overcoming‖, toward perfection, toward superiority, toward success. You cannot train or condition a living being for defeat. But what an individual thinks or feels as success (i.e., as a goal acceptable to him), that is his own matter. (p.4)
The optimally developed person displays continual creativity and courageousness in dealing with challenges inherent to the social context. High levels of social interest translate into the individual‘s striving toward superiority in a manner which also enhances communal power and development (Adler, 1927, 1930). In contrast, individuals with low levels of 40 social interest are motivated by private world views independent of the social context, resulting in a self-centred striving that ultimately results in discouragement and poor inter- and intrapersonal functioning (Adler, 1964). The optimally developed individual is adaptive.
His logic translates to a common sense ability to function in a constructive, cooperative and productive manner towards the achievement of the final goal (Corey, 2005). Adler (1958) and McAdams (1994) emphasised that the most adaptive fictional final goal is realistic and allows for the creative power of the individual to flourish in the striving towards superiority.
Critique of Adler’s Individual Psychology. Adler was protective toward his developing theory of Individual Psychology. While Adler did not promote a strict doctrine like Freud did, he maintained that Individual Psychology should not be incorporated inadvertently into ideologies of the day. However, prominent Adlerians acknowledged the importance of modifying Adlerian ideas to apply to modern day challenges (Corey, 2005; Masager & Gold,
2000). Boeree (2006) noted that Adler‘s Individual Psychology resonated with numerous personality theorists such as Maslow and Carl Rogers and suggests that so called Neo-
Freudians like Horney, Fromm and Sullivan could more accurately be called Neo-Adlerians.
Adler‘s contribution to the theory of personality development expanded the notion that the individual is a socially embedded being that cannot be understood as separate of his socio- cultural context. In addition to Adler‘s holistic view of the individual, he stressed the importance that family constellation, birth order and early recollections have on human development (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956; Corey, 2005).
Authors such as Boeree (2006) and Corey (2005) note that it is challenging to determine the empirical value of Adler‘s theory as it based on relatively vague, unscientific concepts.
Manaster (1996) suggests the while the completeness of Adler‘s theory as well as the fluidity with which Adler could offer explanations across the interrelated concepts inherent to his theory was remarkable, conceptual problems and inconsistencies contained in the theory 41 cannot be ignored. These inconsistencies are primarily related to Adler‘s view on holism; failure of social interest and the not unconscious, not formulated goal.
Individual Psychology is referred to as holistic and concerns itself with viewing individuals as indivisible. Manaster (1996) states that this notion of holism is hard to convey and difficult to keep in mind and suggests that the term ‗soul‘ could be employed to better explain the concept of the individual‘s essence as related to behaviour, cognition and emotion.
It is noteworthy to recall that Adler emphasised the importance of social interest – for the purposes of communal development but also as a contributing factor to the holistic development of the individual‘s personality and lifestyle (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). In addition, Manaster (1996) argued that the concept of ‗social interest‘ has been criticised for the implicit conformist approach it suggests. Moreover, it is argued that the ambition behind the individual‘s perusal of social interest is questionable. Distinguishing between the display of apparent high levels of social interest while the individual‘s motive is that of personal elevation rather than communal growth becomes challenging. It therefore becomes increasingly important that there is an understanding of the individual‘s intentions and goals in the context of social-embeddedness.
As repeatedly highlighted by Adler (1929, 1930, 1958) children form their lifestyles which serve as a template for the decision making and interpretation of life experiences. The construction of an unconscious goal directs the child‘s striving toward a final goal. In addition, Adler (1929, 1930) emphasised the child‘s freedom to select their creative response to life obstacles as evaluated from the stance of their subjective perception, stressing the child‘s free will in the context of a teleological developmental view. Boeree (2006) criticizes the teleological view to development, reasoning that besides the lack of scientific 42 evidence in support of this approach, the focus on the final goal as the purpose eliminates the necessity for the individual to make defining choices.
Christopher and Bickhard (1992) noted that Adler‘s theory lacked an explanation of how the child becomes able to choose a lifestyle and how this choice persists throughout the lifespan. Manaster (1996) noted that:
Adler attempted to describe and elucidate each individual case based on the thoughts and understandings of the individual person. He did not attempt to infer usual thoughts and understandings for all persons. If he attempted such a generalization, he would have found much that individuals do not explain or understand about themselves and what they are about; and even though it is not understood, explained, recognized, or acknowledged, it still results in patterns and consistencies in our lives and living. (p. 366)
Manaster (1996) cautioned that Adler did not attempt to generalise understanding of one individual to the next, stating that the unconscious is nothing more than that which individuals have been unable to clearly formulate.
In consideration of the mentioned critique of Individual Psychology, the present researcher remains purposefully aware of Adler‘s fundamental views of Individual
Psychology, as best stated by Adler himself:
One has to observe how a particular individual relates himself to the outside world. The outside world includes the individual‘s own body, his bodily functions, and the functions of his mind. He does not relate himself to the outside world in a pre-determined manner as is often assumed. He relates himself always according to his own interpretation of himself and of his present problems. His limits are not only the common human limits, but also the limits which he has set himself. It is neither heredity nor environment which determines his relationship to the outside world. Heredity only endows him with certain abilities. Environment only gives him certain impressions. These abilities and impressions, and the manner in which he ―experiences‖ them- that is to say, the interpretation he makes of these experiences- are the bricks which he uses in his own ―creative‖ way in building up his attitude toward life. It is his individual way of using these bricks – or in other words, it is his attitude toward life- which determines his relationship to the outside world. (Adler, 1982, p.3)
Boeree (2006) emphasised the positive attributes of Adlerian Individual Psychology, stating that the theory in underpinned by clear descriptions and common sense interpretation of lifestyle challenges. Inherent to the Adlerian approach is a sense of affection for the 43 common person. Hirsch (2006) noted that Adler‘s ideas have had a broad yet diffuse impact.
Terms such as ‗inferiority complex‘, and ‗lifestyle‘ have become common usage illustrating the diffuse impact his ideas have had not only on psychology theorists but also market research and education processes. Oberst and Stewart (2003) in Hirsch (2006, p.481) noted that ―It would not be easy to find another author from which so much has been borrowed from all sides without acknowledgement than Adler‖.
Conclusion of Adler’s Individual Psychology. The first part of this chapter provided an overview of the holistic individual. The development of personality and related constitutional factors were addressed with consideration to inherent dynamic forces such as creative power, social context and optimal development as relevant to the understanding of the contextualised individual. The theoretical overview of Adler‘s individual psychology was concluded with a critique of Adler‘s contribution to development theory. In an attempt to address common criticisms that psychobiographies emphasise psychopathological processes at the expense of normal and creative processes (Runyan, 1984), the psychobiographer will now provide a theoretical overview of Antonovsky‘s (1987) Sense of Coherence as the second theoretical approach in the analysis of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs as addressed in Chapter 6.
Overview of Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence
The second part of this chapter introduces and discusses concepts related to Aaron
Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (SOC). The continuum of health and disease will be discussed while the concept of salutogenises will be defined. According to Sweeney (1998) as cited in Meyers & Sweeney (2005, p.15), Adler‘s teachings reveal his orientation to positive human development well in advance of others discovery of holistic, positive approaches to human growth. By elaborating on Antonovsky‘s SOC, the present researcher will demonstrate how this concept will provide a valuable template against which to measure 44 the life of Steven Paul Jobs from both the perspectives of Adler‘s Individual Psychology and that of Antonovsky‘s wellness paradigm.
The continuum of health. Antonovsky (1979) noted that the study of pathogenesis
(disease) has traditionally been the focus of medical research, regardless of the biological or social context. According to Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2002) positive psychologists have criticised the marked focus on pathology that has dominated psychology, adding that such a pathological focus has led to a view that individuals lack the positive features that make life worthwhile. Antonovsky (1987) was of the opinion that as long as humans are alive, they find themselves in part healthy and in part sick – thus all individuals are on the health/sickness (breakdown) continuum. Health is thus not simply a dependent wellness variable but it is associated to wellbeing in other areas of life. During the course of
Antonovsky‘s (1923 – 1994) work, he became concerned with understanding how the individual stayed healthy and identifying which moderating factors (resources) played a role in the protective processes of individuals.
Salutogenesis. Antonovsky (1923-1994) developed the salutogenic paradigm in the
1970‘s with a focus centred on gaining insight into stress and coping (Vossler, 2012). The salutogenic paradigm focuses on the resources and strategies that individuals possess that restore order and enable successful coping with potentially pathogenic factors as encountered in the process of living (Korotkov, 1998). According to Antonovsky (1990), the following premises underpin the salutogenic paradigm:
a) Stress is considered as ubiquitous and suffering is inherent to the human
condition. Health is not attained by default but something that has to be generated
and maintained on an on-going basis.
b) Individuals are not either healthy or sick but find themselves on a ―health
ease/disease‖ continuum (Vossler, 2012, p.70). 45
c) Salutogenesis is holistically concerned with all aspects of an individual‘s
existence and seeks to promote the factors that move individuals toward the
‗health ease‘ pole of the continuum. Negative emotions and stress are not
neglected but viewed as opportunities to be integrated in a grounded and balanced
manner.
In addition to the above understanding of salutogenesis, Antonovsky (1987) identified
‗general resistance resources‘ (GRR‘s). These GRR‘s are seen as characteristics that the individual (intelligence, ego-identity), group (social support) or society (political system, history) possesses that translate to the manner in which individuals deal with stress and challenges, defining their position on the health ease/ disease continuum (Vossler, 2012).
The availability of and experiences with utilizing GRR‘s over time leads to the degree to which individuals experience a ‗sense of coherence‘ (Antonovsky, 1987).
Sense of Coherence. Antonovsky (1979) motivates that the origins of health are to be found in a SOC. Antonovsky (1987) indicated that SOC comprises of three components
(comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness) and defined SOC as follows:
The sense of coherence is a global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that (1) stimuli deriving from one‘s internal and external environments in the course of living are structured, predictable, and explicable; (2) the resources are available to one to meet the demands posted by these stimuli; and (3) these demands are challenges, worthy investment and engagement. (p. 19)
According to Vossler (2012) the SOC concepts of ‗comprehensibility‘, ‗manageability‘ and ‗meaningfulness‘ are interrelated, while ‗meaningfulness‘ is considered to be the most important. Comprehending a situation and feeling able to cope does not result in the overcoming of the challenge if there is an absence of engagement motivation. Antonovsky
(1987) emphasised that people with a strong SOC are generally in a more advantageous position to utilize GRR‘s in order to respond to stress, while Vossler (2012) was of the 46 opinion that SOC is not a single function of coping but rather an appraisal of stressful situations allowing the individual to choose appropriate ways of dealing with stress.
An individual‘s SOC strength can be regarded as a critical element in the structure of an individual‘s personality. This personality structure facilitates the coping and adaption process (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987), and therefore Antonovsky‘s SOC theory relates to the adaptive capacity of human beings (Griffiths, Ryan & Foster, 2010). Kortokov (1998) pointed out that Antonovsky‘s SOC emphasises that the availability of individual choice making experiences strengthens the individual‘s SOC, enabling the individual to adapt and cope when facing life stressors.
Critique of Antonovsky’s salutogenesis. Antonovsky (1979, p. 187) noted that:
Life experiences are crucial in shaping a sense of coherence. From the time of birth we constantly go through situations of challenge and response, stress, tension, and resolution. The more these experiences are characterized by consistency, participation in shaping outcome, and an underload-overload balance of stimuli, the more we begin to see the world as being coherent and predictable.
Paradoxically, the unpredictability of challenging life experiences which require coping resources that may not yet be known to the individual is essential for a strong SOC.
Furthermore, for a strong SOC to develop the individual‘s experiences must be rewarding yet marked by a measure of frustration and punishment as to elicit defence mechanisms that give way to SOC (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987). It is the present researcher‘s understanding that the degree of frustration and punishment to elicit defence mechanisms can be equated to Adler‘s notions of the basic felt sense of inferiority as experienced by the individual. This feeling of inferiority elicits the individual‘s creative power, enabling the individual‘s striving toward power. A failure to employ creativity would thus result in a lack of social interest or the absence of the SOC. As the individual moves toward the SOC so also the individual moves toward the fictional goal as consistent with the chosen lifestyle.
47
Conclusion
The primary focus of this chapter was on providing an overview of Adler‘s Individual
Psychology. As a supplement to Adler‘s Individual Psychology, Aaron Antonovsky‘s contribution to psychology was considered. The chapter suggested the integration of Adler and Antonovsky‘s theoretical views in order to facilitate a dynamic and holistic picture of an individual‘s functioning. The chapter highlighted that Adler‘s social interest, creative power and holistic consideration of the individual are interlinked with Antonovsky‘s sense of coherence as addressed by socio-cultural salutogenesis, general resistance resources and the individual‘s ‗meaning making‘ capacity also considered from a holistic paradigm. These two approaches provided a rich theoretical base as an explanation not only of dynamic personality, but also as a consideration of the individual‘s social context, choice making capacity and striving towards health ease and superiority. Chapter 4 will provide an overview of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs.
48
CHAPTER 4
THE LIFE OF STEVEN PAUL JOBS
Chapter Preview
This chapter will provide an overview of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs. The overview is presented chronologically from Jobs‘ birth in 1955 to his death in 2011. The overview includes a focus on his childhood, schooling, career and relationships. A timeline depicting this chronology is provided in Appendix C.
The Lived Life of Steven Paul Jobs
Childhood.
Adopted. Chosen. Special. Steven Paul Jobs was born to unwed university students on
February 24, 1955, in San Francisco, California in the United States of America. Jobs‘ biological mother (Joanne) was from German descent and brought-up in a strict Catholic household while his biological father (Abdulfattah) was a Muslim teaching assistant from a wealthy Syrian family. The challenges of having an abortion in a small Catholic community, in addition to Joanne‘s dying father threatening to disown her if she was to wed Abdulfattah, resulted in Joanne giving her baby up for adoption. Isaacson (2011) noted that Joanne had one non-negotiable condition for adoption: her child had to be adopted by college graduates.
Jobs was set to be adopted by a lawyer and his wife who subsequently decided that they preferred a girl instead. This turn of events lead to Jobs being adopted by Paul and Clara
Jobs. Jobs‘ adoptive parents were a lower-middle-class couple who were not university educated (Moisescot, 2012). Paul Jobs was a high-school dropout who worked as a machine mechanic for the Coast Guard during World War II. Despite the fact that Paul‘s father was an abusive alcoholic, Paul grew to have a gentle and calm disposition – in contrast to his rugged exterior. He was 6 feet tall and tattooed, while Clara was described as a sweet- 49 humoured war widow of Armenian descent. Upon Joanne learning that the baby was living with a high school drop-out she refused to sign the adoption papers until Paul and Clara pledged to fund a savings account to pay for the baby‘s college education. Joanne (a writer) and Abdulfattah (PhD in international politics) eventually got married and had a second child,
Mona (Isaacson, 2011). They subsequently divorced. Two years after adopting Jobs, Paul and Clara Jobs (a school secretary, who later became a payroll clerk) adopted Jobs‘ non- biological sister, Patty (Sheen, 2010).
Paul and Clara were open with Jobs with regards to the adoption from a young age. Jobs vividly recalls conversations about his adoption, as a child of six years, following questioning from a friend that implied his real parents did not want him.
Lightning bolts went off in my head. I remember running into the house, crying. My parents said, ―No, you have to understand.‖ They were very serious and looked me in the eye. They said, ―We specifically picked you out.‖ Both of my parents said that and repeated it slowly for me. And they put emphasis on every word in that sentence. (Isaacson, 2011, p.4)
Isaacson (2011) highlighted that Jobs was abandoned but chosen and most of all special.
These experiences became an integral part of Jobs‘ identity as became evident in his assertion of control in adult life.
Jobs was reportedly a challenging child from a young age as he demonstrated intensity, strength of will and a desire to set rules. Sheen (2010) explained that Paul and Clara soon realised that it was futile to fight with a headstrong toddler, allowing Jobs to do as he wished.
Jobs‘ stubborn wilfulness often got him into trouble and he was known to convince friends to follow suit:
Although he was frequently warned against it, he could not restrain himself from sticking a bobby pin into an electrical outlet. The resultant trip to the emergency room did not stop him from swallowing ant poison, which he knew was taboo, or from persuading one of his playmates to do the same. (Sheen, 2010, p.14)
50
Figure 4.1. Paul Jobs and his son (1956).
In an effort to keep Jobs out of trouble, his father took the boy under his wing. Paul tried to pass along his passion for mechanics and cars. Jobs became impressed with his father‘s focus and craftsmanship. Jobs recalls how his father was set on doing things right, stating that his father even cared about the parts one could not see – this focus on detail would become synonymous with Jobs‘ work in future (Isaacson, 2011). While Jobs enjoyed spending time with his father, he did not particularly enjoy getting his hands dirty as Paul would later recount. Jobs‘ attention was captured by electronics. While Paul did not have a complex understanding of electronics, he taught Jobs rudimentary principles including how to scavenge for parts and how to bargain.
Jobs grew up in The Santa Clara County, which became known as Silicon Valley in the early 1950s, housing large technological corporations and ‗high-tech‘ businesses that later formed the hub of the American technical sector. Growing up in this neighbourhood, surrounded by engineers and other technologically-minded individuals, further stimulated
Jobs‘ interest in technology and innovation and would later prove instrumental to the role
Jobs would play in the technological advances in the modern world. 51
Figure 4.2. Steve Jobs Childhood Home (Gallo, 2011).
Sheen (2010) reported that Larry Lang, an electrical engineer for Hewlett - Packard, mentored Jobs. Lang had developed a carbon microphone, which produced sound without an amplifier. This device immediately demanded Jobs‘ full attention and captured his imagination. After relentlessly quizzing Larry about the workings of the device, Larry gave
Jobs the microphone so he could disassemble it and study it. In addition, Larry introduced
Jobs to building Heathkits. Heathkits allowed electronics enthusiasts to build their own radios, hi-fi equipment and amongst others, oscilloscopes.
In an interview on 20 April, 1995 with Daniel Morrow (Executive Director of the
Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program), Jobs explained that the Heathkits showed him several things in addition to an understanding of what was inside a finished product and how the product worked. Not only did it operationalize theory, but it gave the builder the sense that one could build the things that one saw around oneself in the universe. Jobs reports that it gave him a significant level of self-confidence and knowledge that exploration could enable one to understand the complexities of one‘s environment. As Jobs‘ learning about electronics increased, he soon realised that his father was not as knowledgeable as he had thought.
52
Figure 4.3. Heathkit AA40 stereo amp (Pate, n.d.).
This realisation was soon followed by disillusionment as Jobs realised he was smarter than his parents. This discovery, along with the fact that he was adopted, made him feel like an outsider from his family and the world. To Jobs‘ surprise, he discovered that his parents realised he was smarter than them and subsequently adapted their lives to accommodate a smart and wilful Steve. In one of numerous interviews with Walter Isaacson (2011), Jobs disclosed the following:
It was a very big moment that‘s burned into my mind. When I realised that I was smarter than my parents, I felt tremendous shame for having thought that. I will never forget that moment…Both my parents got me. They felt a lot of responsibility once they sensed that I was special. They found ways to keep feeding me stuff and putting me in better schools. They were willing to defer to my needs. (p.11)
School. Jobs‘ mother, Clara, taught him to read before he went to elementary school
(Interview, 1995). Jobs' school career was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling.
While Paul Jobs and Larry Lang challenged Jobs during his spare time, school bored him.
Jobs regularly refused to go to school and refused to do school work that he had already mastered. On the rare occasions he did as he was told, he completed the work well before his peers. He was significantly far ahead of his classmates on an intellectual level and did not relate well to his peers on a social level (Sheen, 2010). Isaacson (2011) noted that it was evident from Jobs‘ schooling career that he was not inclined to accept authority. ―I encountered authority of a different kind than I had ever encountered before, and I did not 53 like it. And they really almost got me. They came close to really beating any curiosity out of me‖ (p.12).
Jobs often played pranks on others at school, showing rebellion and intellectual superiority as evident in pranks that involved putting up posters around school that announced to scholars an upcoming ‗bring your pet to school day‘, which resulted in chaos at school as pets were running rampant. On another occasion Jobs convinced his peers to give him access to their bicycle lock combinations only for him to switch around the locks on the bicycles. These pranks escalated and became increasingly dangerous when Jobs
(approximately 10 years old) set off an explosive under the chair of a teacher (Sheen, 2010).
Jobs‘ parents did not punish him for his behaviour at school. According to Isaacson (2011),
Jobs already displayed a mélange of sensitivity and insensitivity, bristliness and disinterest that would become a hallmark of his personality. Jobs recalls that his father ―knew the school was at fault for trying to make me memorize stupid stuff rather than stimulating me‖
(p.13).
Jobs‘ fourth grade teacher had a significant impact on Jobs, not only as a child in a schooling system but as an influence that made a lasting impact upon him as a person.
According to Jobs (Interview, 1995), Mrs. Hill realised that he had an abundance of energy and gained his interest by bribing him with sweets and money and by assigning him special projects like building a camera. Jobs reported that he is certain he would have ended up in jail if it was not for Mrs. Hill‘s remarkable influence. ―In my class, it was me she cared about. She saw something in me‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p.13).
During the fourth grade, Jobs was administered an intelligence test which determined that his intellectual functioning was equivalent to that of a junior high school student. It was advised that Jobs skip the fifth – eight grades and be sent to high school. His parents did not consent to the idea and allowed him to skip the fifth grade only, resulting in Jobs having to 54 enter middle school a year ahead of his peers. Jobs found himself to be the target of bullies in his new school and threatened to drop out of school. He then proceeded to convince his parents to move to Los Altos, a different town in Silicon Valley, so that he could go to a new school. At the age of eleven years old, Jobs had already demonstrated the wilfulness to convince his parents to resettle – his intensity and single mindedness that he could move any obstacles was already in place (Young & Simon, 2005).
Jobs‘ new school offered advanced classes but while he was intellectually stimulated, he did not fit in with any group. His parents enrolled him in the swimming team, where despite his ordinary swimming ability, his desire to win was so intense that the other boys would feel uncomfortable, resulting in Jobs running off to cry (Sheen, 2010). Jobs did not mind being an outsider and regarded himself as a rebel.
At 13 years of age (as a junior in high school), Jobs met arguably one of the most influential people of his life time – eighteen year old Stephen Wozniak (a college junior).
Wozniak was an electronic whiz-kid not unlike Jobs and would become a loyal friend and business partner. Wozniak, or Woz as Jobs would refer to him, shared Jobs‘ keen interest in electronics and pulling pranks. At the time of their meeting, Woz was attempting to build a computer – like device from a plan he had designed on paper. Woz and Jobs immediately shared a connection.
I remember Steve and I just sat on the sidewalk in front of Bill‘s house for the longest time just sharing stories—mostly about pranks we‘d pulled, and also what kind of electronic designs we‘d done. . . . So Steve came into the garage and saw the computer and listened to our description of it. I could tell he was impressed. I mean, we‘d actually built a computer from scratch and proved that it was possible - or going to be possible - for people to have computers in a really small space. Steve and I got close right away, even though he was still in high school. (Wozniak & Smith, 2006, p.88)
The close friendship between Jobs and Woz increased not only Jobs‘ passion for electronics but also his passion for music. Jobs explains that ―it was an incredible time for 55 music…Like living at a time when Beethoven and Mozart were alive‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p.25).
Woz triggered Jobs‘ interest in Bob Dylan – soon after the birth of this new found interest in the music of Bob Dylan, Woz and Jobs started tracking down and collecting Dylan bootlegs.
Jobs soon joined the school electronics club and Hewlett - Packard‘s Explorer Club which offered lectures for young people interested in electronics. It is here where Jobs saw his first real computer. An experience that mesmerised him as he vowed he would someday own one
(Sheen, 2010). Jobs became interested in holographics as a method of producing three- dimensional photographs by means of laser beams. He interrogated the lecturers and bombarded them with questions. Jobs had an intensity driven by passion. He would stand very close to whomever he was talking, occupying the person‘s space. He was impossible to avoid once he had a knowledgeable target in sight (Young and Simon, 2005).
Jobs was so fervent about holographics and lasers that he was convinced he could build his own machine. In a bold move, Jobs phoned Bill Hewlett and requested spare holographic parts.
He was listed in the Palo Alto phone book. He answered the phone and he was real nice. He chatted with me for, like, twenty minutes. He didn‘t know me at all, but he ended up giving me some parts, and he got me a job that summer working at Hewlett-Packard, on the line assembling frequency counters . . . Well assembling may be too strong. I was putting in screws. It didn‘t matter. I was in heaven. (Young and Simon, 2005, p. 17)
Jobs and Woz‘s next project involved building an illegal device known as a ‗blue box‘, which allowed the user to make free long distance phone calls. To finance the project Jobs worked at an electronics store part-time. It is here that he became increasingly knowledgeable regarding the value of electronic parts. He subsequently bought under-priced parts from flea markets and sold it to his boss at a profit. Upon the successful completion of
Woz and Jobs‘ blue box project, Jobs was intent on selling it at Berkley where Woz attended college.
56
Figure 4.4. Steve Jobs, aged 14 years Figure 4.5. Woz using a ‘blue box’ to (front, middle) as part of the school make a free long-distance phone call electronics club (1969). (1971).
While Jobs‘ ambition stretched further than the design and completion of the project, Woz found fulfilment in the intellectual challenge of the project. Kaplan (2000, p. 85) stated that
―Woz had no ambition. Jobs had nothing but desire, combined with his freight-train intensity and golden tongue, it made Jobs formidable.‖ Jobs and Woz‘s illegal enterprise came to an end after Jobs was held up at gunpoint by a prospective buyer of a blue box. The pattern that the two young men established of Woz building a product and Jobs marketing it would serve them well in the future (Sheen, 2010).
As a high school student, Jobs embraced the counterculture values of individuality, rebelliousness, and experimentation with psychedelic drugs that thrived in the early 1970s.
His appearance was that of a hippie: he had long hair, wore love beads, and often went barefoot. Contradictory to the hippie image, Jobs was also a nerd - passionate about electronics, interested in poetry and creative writing, and as intense as ever (Sheen, 2010).
Toward the end of his high school career Jobs engaged in his first romantic relationship and started dating Chris-Ann Brennan, a young woman who shared Jobs‘ counterculture values and intellectual pursuits. The two became very close, and they would maintain an ‗off and on‘ relationship for years to come (Isaacson, 2011). 57
Lost but not found. In 1972, Jobs graduated from high school. He was accepted to a number of prestigious universities including Stanford University, which was well known for its engineering department and appeared a perfect match for Jobs. Jobs decided against enrolling at Stanford as everyone there knew what they wanted to do with their lives and he did not know what his life goal was (Kaplan, 2000). During this time Woz dropped out of
Berkley and worked for Hewlett - Packard. The two inseparable friends would part ways
(Sheen, 2010).
When Jobs was 18 years of age he enrolled at a liberal arts college – Reed College- against the wishes of his adoptive parents. However, even though Paul and Clara could barely afford his tuition, they agreed to pay as they had promised Jobs‘ biological parents that he would receive a university education. Moritz (1984) explained that Jobs selected Reed because it was known for its unconventional students and liberal counterculture atmosphere – a campus of ‗loners and freaks‘. Jobs still stood out from everyone else. Robert Friedland, who became Jobs‘ friend, recalls:
He was always walking around barefoot. He was one of the freaks on the campus. The thing that struck me was his intensity. Whatever he was interested in he would generally carry to an irrational extreme. He wasn‘t a rapper [talker]. One of his numbers was to stare at the person he was talking to. He would stare into their . . . eyeballs, ask some question and would want a response without the other person averting their eyes. (Moritz, 1984, p. 85)
In addition to Friedland, Jobs befriended Kottke – an intellectually gifted individual who shared his search for identity and enlightenment. However, it was Friedland who had a significant impact on Jobs. Friedland was outgoing and the centre of attention. He was charming and captivating and soon became Jobs‘ mentor. By observing Friedland Jobs learnt how to be charming and how to address a large group (Isaacson, 2011).
58
Figure 4.6. Reed College (Sheen, 2010).© Bruce Forster/dk/Alamy.
Friedland was one of only a few people that managed to mesmerize Jobs in his lifetime.
While Jobs was mesmerized by Friedland‘s charm, Friedland was taken with Jobs intensity.
Kottke recalled the influence Friedland had on Jobs:
When I first met Steve he was shy and self-effacing, a very private guy. I think Robert taught him a lot about selling, about coming out of his shell, of opening up and taking charge of a situation. Friedland projected a high-wattage aura. He would walk into a room and you would instantly notice him. Steve was the absolute opposite when he came to Reed. After he spent time with Robert, some of it started to rub off. (Isaacson, 2011, p.42)
Under guidance from Friedland, Jobs intensely and feverishly pursued enlightenment through Eastern philosophy, fruitarian diets and drug use. This search for enlightenment remained a focus of Jobs‘ life. Jobs was a practicing Zen Buddhist until his death. Upon reflection of his college years and pursuit of enlightenment, Jobs recalled the following:
I came of age at a magical time. Our consciousness was raised by Zen, and also by LSD. Taking LSD was a profound experience, one of the most important things in my life. LSD shows you that there‘s another side to the coin, and you can‘t remember it when it wears off, but you know it. It reinforced my sense of what was important – creating great things instead of making money, putting things back into the stream of history and of human consciousness as much as I could. (Isaacson, 2011, p.41)
Jobs‘ enrolment at Reed College was short lived but unlike the usual college dropouts,
Jobs did not leave campus but dropped in on classes that he was interested in (Naughton,
2011). He stopped paying tuition and dormitory fees and slept on the floor of Kottke‘s dormitory room. Jobs regarded this time of his life as a time where he learnt to fine tune his 59 intuition by following his curiosity (Sheen, 2010). In a Stanford Commencement Address that Jobs delivered in 2005 he noted that:
It was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. (Naughton, 2011, par.4)
Adulthood
Disillusioned enlightenment. In 1973, Friedland went to India where he claimed he had found the meaning of life. In order for Jobs and Kottke to follow Friedland, Jobs returned home and lived with his parents in order to save money. Upon Jobs‘ return to California he was hired as a video game designer at Atari. Jobs‘ task was to examine newly designed arcade games and make improvements – the type of work usually undertook by an engineer
(Sheen, 2010). Jobs was not qualified for the job but, as was his way, he convinced Atari‘s cofounder (Al Acorn) to give him a job.
Jobs was dressed in rags, basically, hippie stuff. An eighteen-year-old drop-out of Reed College. I don‘t know why I hired him, except that he was determined to have the job and there was some spark. I really saw the spark in that man, some inner energy, an attitude that he was going to get it done. And he had a vision, too. You know the definition of a visionary is ―someone with an inner vision not supported by external facts,‖ he had those great ideas without much to back them up. Except that he believed in them. (Young & Simon, 2005, p. 23)
He was not popular with his colleagues as he frequently pointed out others‘ inadequacies and refused to wear deodorant due to his strict fruitarian diet and spiritual beliefs. Due to his highly competent work performance, Jobs was placed on night shift so that he could be kept on despite numerous complaints against him by fellow employees (Isaacson, 2011). Jobs reconnected with his old friend, Woz. Woz would often accompany Jobs to work and assisted Jobs with his work for the fun of it. Alcorn admitted that the best aspect of hiring
Jobs was that he came with Woz (Kaplan, 2000). 60
Figure 4.7. Arcade Game that Jobs and Woz developed for Atari. (Sheen, 2010). © Arcade Images/Alamy.
Atari was the creator of Pong, an early two-player video game based on ping pong. The company wanted to develop a similar one-player game and Jobs volunteered for the fee of
$1000. While Jobs did not have the technical skills to deliver this product, Woz did. Jobs promised to pay Woz half of the fee. They subsequently completed the seemingly impossible project in only four days and nights (Isaacson, 2011). Upon completion of the job, Jobs paid
Woz only $350, informing Woz that Atari paid only $700 for the new game.
Later I found out he got paid a bit more for it—like a few hundred dollars—than he said at the time. . . . He wasn‘t honest with me, and I was hurt. But I didn‘t make a big deal about it or anything . . . I still don‘t really understand why he would‘ve gotten paid one thing and told me he‘d gotten paid another. But you know people are different. And in no way do I regret the experience at Atari with Steve Jobs. He was my best friend and I still feel extremely linked with him . . . Anyway, in the long run of money—Steve and I ended up getting very comfortable money-wise from our work founding Apple just a few years later—it certainly didn‘t add up to much. (Wozniak & Smith, 2006, p.149)
Sheen (2010) noted that it is unclear as to why Jobs betrayed his friend. Besides needing the money for his India trip, Jobs offered to pay Kottke‘s way as Kottke was poor and would not be able to afford the trip otherwise. However, Jobs managed to get Atari to pick up part of his own airfare as the company required someone to go to Germany to repair video games. 61
Jobs successfully did the repairs in less than two hours, after which he proceeded on to India to continue his search for spiritual enlightenment.
Jobs and Kottke spent a month in India. Upon arrival they exchanged their western clothes for loincloths, gave away their possessions and shaved their heads. They travelled the country on foot, begged for food, slept in abandoned buildings or out in the open, and attended religious festivals. The goal of their travels was to reach the village of Kainchi to meet Neem Karoli Baba, Friedland‘s guru. Jobs was convinced that the guru would be able to guide him to spiritual enlightenment. Upon arrival they found out that the guru was dead
(Sheen, 2010). Jobs left without the answers he was seeking and was disenchanted by the extreme poverty he saw there. He explained that ―It was one of the first times I started thinking that maybe Thomas Edison did a lot more to improve the world than guru Neem
Karoli Baba‖ (Moritz, 1984, p. 111).
Upon his return to the United States, no more enlightened than when he left, Jobs spent his time at the All One Farm - an Oregon commune located on land that Friedland owned. It is here that Jobs devoted himself to working in the apple orchard and assisted the commune to establish a successful business selling woodstoves. Jobs had still not found what he was looking for – who he was and what his role in the world should be. He began a search to discover his birth parents- a search which took years to complete (Isaacson, 2011). The search for spiritual connectedness and meaning left him disillusioned and he soon regained interest in Woz‘s new activities.
The beginning of a revolution. Jobs returned to his work at Atari. Woz invited him to join the Homebrew Computer Club - an electronics club whose members were typically engineers and electronic hobbyists interested in computers. The club allowed them the opportunity to share their ideas and electronic creations. Many of the members were trying to build their own computers, including Woz who had an idea for a new kind of computer. At 62 that stage, personal computers or microcomputers came unassembled in a kit. The personal computer did not have a monitor or keyboard but worked with switches and lights that the user flipped to program the processor (Sheen, 2010).
Woz‘s vision for a personal computer was of a machine that would work with television and a keyboard similar to that of a typewriter. Users would then input commands (by means of typing) which would appear on the television screen. Jobs could not contain his excitement at Woz‘s idea but realised that he himself did not have the ability to build such a device but knew that Woz could. Jobs assisted Woz by coming up with ideas such as disk storage and securing computer memory chips for the project. Woz was of the opinion that it would have been unlikely for the project to succeed without Jobs‘ contribution.
He made some calls and by some marketing miracle he was able to score some free DRAMs from Intel - unbelievable considering their price and rarity at the time. Steve is just that sort of person. I mean, he knew how to talk to a sales representative. I could never have done that; I was too shy. But he got me Intel DRAM chips. (Wozniak & Smith, 2006, p.170)
Jobs‘ contribution to Woz‘s project allowed him to experience a sense of satisfaction more important than his attempts to gain enlightenment. Jobs had found where he belonged and what he was meant to do (Isaacson, 2011).
Woz finished his computer in 1976 and presented it to the Homebrew Club along with details of how to build it. To their disappointment few members attempted the project. Jobs was of the opinion that the other hobbyists lacked the skill or the time to build them. He was convinced that if Woz made the printed circuit boards ready to sell all the customers would have to do is assemble the computer. Woz was hesitant to pursue the idea. This was the idea that launched the Apple Computer Company (Sheen, 2010).
His idea was for us to make these pre-printed circuit boards for $20 and sell them for $40 . . . Frankly, I couldn‘t see how we would earn our money back. I figured we‘d have to invest about $1000 . . . To get the money back, we‘d have to sell the board for $40 to fifty people. And I didn‘t think there were fifty people at Homebrew who‘d buy the 63
board…But Steve had a good argument. . . . He said—and I can remember him saying this like it was yesterday: ―Well, even if we lose our money, we‘ll have a company. For once in our lives, we‘ll have a company.‖ . . . That convinced me. And I was excited to think about us like that. To be two best friends starting a company. Wow. I knew right then that I‘d do it. How could I not? (Wozniak & Smith, 2006, p.172)
While the exceptionally talented Woz managed to build a personal computer, it was Jobs who understood that his friend‘s invention could be sold and would revolutionise personal computing and software writing. Sheen (2010) reported that Jobs, who had visited the All
One Farm shortly before their decision to start a company, suggested that the company name be Apple Computers. He wanted a name that did not sound too technical and would attract everyday people. Woz agreed.
On 1 April, 1976, Apple Computers was founded by Jobs and Woz from the garage of
Jobs‘ parents. Jobs kept the location of their company private and hired an answering service and post box. He was concerned that their credibility and image would suffer if people knew the truth. In order to produce their new product, the Apple I, Jobs and Woz required capital.
Jobs sold his van for $1000 and Woz his calculator for $250. In addition, Jobs worked at a mall, dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland (Sheen, 2010). Jobs and Woz‘s initial plan was to build fifty circuit boards. Jobs secured an order for fifty assembled computers
($25000) from a local electronics store after the store owner was not convinced that circuit boards alone would sell. While this was not their original plan, Jobs accepted the offer.
Jobs and Woz now had to produce not only the completed circuit boards but also acquire all the components and parts, and put the machines together. They soon realised that it would not be practical to build by hand and decided to have the boards mass produced by a manufacturing company. This would leave Jobs and Woz with the task of plugging in and writing the computer chips themselves.
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Figure 4.8. Apple I as designed by Jobs and Woz in 1976 (Sheen, 2010). © Kim Kulish/Corbis. A challenge arose when Woz‘s graphic representation for the circuit board was too difficult for the manufacturer to follow, resulting in Jobs hiring Wayne (Atari engineer) to draw the schematics and design a manual based on Woz‘s plans. Wayne was offered 10 % of the company as payment which he sold back to Apple for $300 as he did not believe that
Apple would succeed. These shares would become worth $65 million four years later
(Isaacson, 2011).
Jobs‘ sister, Patty, Dan Kottke and Paul and Clara Jobs were soon added to the company‘s payroll and were paid $1 per circuit board. Woz tested each completed circuit board by plugging it into a television set and a keyboard. If there was a problem, he corrected it - Jobs insisted they use only the best components. Hobby computers generally made use of static memory chips that used a lot of power – Jobs was adamant that Apple utilize a new chip with dynamic random access memory (RAM) which used less power. Apple was criticised for this move but Jobs was right about their value as RAM consequently became the industry standard. Woz explained that ―Steve was pushing to use the right parts. We were lucky to be on the right track. It was one of the luckiest technology steps of the whole development‖ (Moritz, 1984, p. 138).
Apple I was very different from modern computers. It had no keyboard, case, or television monitor. Buyers had to supply these features. It stored data on a cassette tape, and it produced only black and white text and graphics. Woz wanted the next computer, Apple II, 65 to support colour, sound, high-resolution graphics and slots in the back, which would allow the memory to be expanded. Jobs wanted the Apple II to have a floppy disk rather than a cassette tape. Woz (in Wozniak and Smith, 2006, p.212) explained that ―Steve was always looking for new technologies that had an advantage and were likely to be the trend.‖ Jobs‘ ultimate vision was for each person to own at least one personal computer – an absurd idea at the time. Jobs resolutely believed in his vision. He was convinced that if Apple could build fully assembled, easy to use computers, the company would change the world (Isaacson,
2011).
Jobs realized that, if they were going to sell their computers to a wide market, presentation, design, and marketing were important. This vision resulted in the self-contained structure of the Apple II which came with a monitor, case, and keyboard, and it was small, lightweight, quiet, and attractive (Sheen, 2010). Jobs wanted the Apple II to look like a household appliance that the average person would feel comfortable using. He insisted that the computer should be housed in a moulded plastic case. While more expensive than metal or wood, Jobs was convinced that it would make the machine look sleek and modern. Jobs subsequently hired an industrial designer, Jerry Manock, to redesign Apple II to fit his vision.
He convinced Woz to give the computer a lightweight power supply that would eliminate a fan and make the machine quieter, and he hired an advertising firm to come up with the colourful Apple logo. Jobs then proceeded to launch the firm with an advertising campaign which included an advertisement in Playboy Magazine (Isaacson, 2011).
To achieve his new vision Jobs required capital, but banks, Atari and Hewlett - Packard declined Jobs‘ advances. After initially being deterred by Jobs long hair and ‗hippie‘ appearance, former Intel executive Mike Markkula was hooked by Jobs‘ vision for Apple.
Markkula provided funding in exchange for a third of the company. In addition to the funding, he developed a business plan, which played a vital role in launching the company. 66
Figure 4.10. Apple II as designed Figure 4.9. First Apple logo under which by Jobs and Woz (Sheen, 2010). © Jobs and Woz sold their products. Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis
From the outset Markkula was intent on remaining with Apple for only four years, returning to retirement thereafter (Sheen, 2010).
In preparation for the launch of the Apple II at the West Coast Computer Faire, Apple increased its employee load. The Apple II was the first easy to use computer ever made. It had colour, high-resolution graphics, sound, and a place to attach game paddles. It was also the first computer to have a programming language built into it (Sheen, 2010). Due to Jobs‘ unrelenting resolve Apple‘s display was smooth and professional. The display, advertising and marketing on which Jobs insisted in addition to Apple II‘s innovativeness put the company on the road to success (Isaacson, 2011). At the age of 25, Jobs‘ net worth was over
$200 million, merely five years after the start of the company. Sheen (2010) was of the opinion that Apple II‘s success was due to Jobs‘ concern, not only for the construction of the computer but also its appearance. Moritz (1984) noted that much of Apple‘s success was due to Jobs unwavering focus on creating an innovative and professional product. ―The Apple II was a product of collaboration and blended contributions . . .but behind them all Jobs was poking, prodding, and pushing and it was he, with his seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy, who became the chief arbitrator and rejecter‖ (p.121). 67
Figure 4.11. Jobs and Woz at the launch of the Apple II in 1970.(Sheen,2010).© Tom Munnecke /Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Jobs insisted that the computer‘s unseen internal chips and wiring be perfectly straight.
He was convinced that attention to detail showed to consumers that they are valued. Jobs believed that delivering products marked by great craftsmanship would ensure Apple a loyal customer base. To build further on Apple II‘s success, Jobs hired only the most exceptionally talented. While he attempted to create an environment to inspire them, he was often brash and outspoken and not considerate of their feelings. This ambivalence between when to expect public praise and lavish rewards (stock options, vacations, bonuses, research budgets) or harsh public criticism and humiliation made him nearly impossible to work for at times
(Isaacson, 2011).
Jobs would later explain that he did not regard it as his job to be nice to people but rather to make people better. Sheen (2010) reported that Jobs would do whatever it took to stimulate creativity. Each Apple office building had its own theme and name chosen by the employees. Each floor had a lounge area equipped with red-topped popcorn stands where employees could interact and share ideas. There were no set work hours and employees came and went as they pleased. 68
Figure 4.12. Woz working in an unconventional and creative workspace.(Sheen, 2010).© Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis.
However, when they were involved with a project, many including Jobs, would work day and night (Moritz, 1984). There was no dress code but jeans and t-shirts appeared to be the norm, apart from Jobs who wore a black turtleneck, Levi jeans and New Balance sneakers
(Isaacson, 2011).
Reality distortion field. Amidst Jobs‘ success at Apple, his personal life was less satisfactory. Once Jobs could afford his own apartment, he and Kottke moved in. Chris-Ann
Brennan continued to sporadically feature in Jobs life and soon joined the two friends, although, upon Jobs‘ insistence Chris-Ann would not share a bedroom with him (Moritz,
1984). While Jobs assumed possession of the largest bedroom in the house, two of the smaller rooms were utilized solely for using LSD and meditating. In an interview with
Isaacson (2011), Chris-Ann reported that ―Steve and I were in and out of a relationship for five years before I got pregnant. We didn‘t know how to be together and we didn‘t know how to be apart‖ (p.87). The relationship between Jobs and Brennan quickly deteriorated once Jobs learned of the pregnancy. While Jobs was comfortable with the notion of a possible abortion, he discouraged Chris-Ann to give the child up for adoption. Once the 69 baby, Lisa, was born Chris-Ann and Lisa lived on welfare until Jobs was ordered by a court judgement to contribute child support. While Jobs contributed to Lisa‘s childhood on a financial level he did not exercise his visitation rights (Young & Simon, 2005). Jobs would later admit that he felt remorseful of his behaviour.
I wish I had handled it differently. I could not see myself as a father then, so I didn‘t face up to it. But when the test results showed she was my daughter, it‘s not true that I doubted it. I agreed to support her until she was eighteen and give some money to Chris-Ann as well. I found a house in Palo Alto and fixed it up and let them live there rent-free. Her mother found her great schools which I paid for. I tried to do the right thing. But if I could do it over, I would do a better job. (Isaacson, 2011, p.91)
During this time of turmoil in Jobs private life, he moved out of the house he shared with
Brennan and into an old mansion in Los Gatos, California. Jobs displayed increased maturity in some areas of his life. He discontinued using drugs and adopted a more moderate approach to veganism and Zen Buddhism. He changed his appearance from that of a bohemian hippie and started wearing his hair short, complemented by designer clothes that reflected his minimalist style. Subsequently he started dating Barbara Jasinski. Despite the apparent maturation, Jobs was still rebellious by nature. He would skinny dip and bought a motorcycle that he adorned with orange tassels on the handlebars. Jobs would frequently behave like a spoiled child – he belittled waitresses, frequently returned food in restaurants and dressed in robes like Jesus Christ, an act of semi-ironic self-awareness at an office party
(Isaacson, 2011).
Throughout his life Jobs was particular about the decorative details of objects – a quality that was mirrored in the houses he owned throughout his life. In 1982 Jobs purchased an apartment in New York City. Amongst many other tenants this apartment building housed
Demi Moore, Steven Spielberg, Steve Martin and the daughter of Rita Hayworth. Jobs spent years renovating his apartment, but never moved in. 70
Figure 4.13.Jobs in his barely furnished house in Los Gatos.(Walker, 1982).
After two decades of renovations Jobs sold the property to U2 singer Bono (Tallant,
2005). In 1984, Jobs purchased a 14-bedroom mansion that remained largely unfurnished although Jobs lived there for nearly ten years. Isaacson (2011, p.155) explained that ―his
[Jobs] exacting standards of craftsmanship combined with a Spartan streak made him reluctant to buy any furnishings that he wasn‘t passionate about‖. Jobs friend and CEO of
Apple recalls that he was struck by the lack of furnishings in Jobs‘ house. With the exception of a few cushions and a mattress on the floor of his bedroom, he never furnished the house or spent much time there as all his time was spent at Apple.
Jobs was determined to build a new and improved computer, which he did with the aid of a $1 million investment from Xerox. The new computer would have a point and click graphic user interface, allowing users to make selections by pointing to onscreen items. Like modern computers today, this would allow for onscreen menus to appear. Jobs first saw the potential for this project during a visit to the Xerox research centre. Xerox had no intention to market this new technology, however Jobs immediately grasped the magnitude of this development and pursued the idea intensely (Isaacson, 2011). 71
Figure 4.14. Apple point-and-click user interface (Sheen, 2010).© Apple/Alamy.
Jobs‘ first attempt at designing a computer based on the point and click technology he saw at Xerox was named ‗Lisa‘. However, he was dissatisfied with the workings of the computer as it was large, expensive and inaccessible to the average person. He subsequently turned his attention to the next project: the low priced, user friendly and ‗average Joe‘
Macintosh (Mac) computer (Sheen, 2010). He realised this idea with the help of approximately 40 scientists whom he housed in a building separate to that of the main Apple headquarters. This building would fly a pirate flag with Jobs inadvertently giving the message that it was acceptable to break the rules if it meant getting results (Isaacson, 2011).
Jobs would treat this elite work team of engineers to freshly squeezed orange juice every morning, meals, medals, cash bonuses and first class plane tickets. While he encouraged them to feel at home by installing a video arcade and piano in the lobby, Jobs was strict and demanding. He would stand over team members asking questions while making adjustments to their work. He would yell and criticise when something was not to his liking and would expect immediate changes to be made to his liking. Team members who were not living up to his expectations were fired (Sheen, 2010).
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Figure 4.15.Jobs, Sculley and Woz launching the Apple Mac computer.(Sheen, 2010).© AP Images.
Regardless of the sacrifices that it would require, Jobs was convinced that the Mac would change personal computing forever. A Mac team member explains that:
Steve has the power of vision that is almost frightening. When he believes something, the power of that vision can literally sweep aside any objections, problems, whatever. They just cease to exist. The reason for Apple succeeding is that we really believed in what we are doing. They key thing was that we weren‘t in it for the money. We were out to change the world. (Young & Simon, 2005, p.21)
Jobs‘ colleagues would later equate his persuasive ability to that of getting caught up in a
‗reality distortion field‘. Isaacson (2011, p.117) reported that a colleague stated ―In his [Jobs] presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything...It was dangerous to get caught up in Steve‘s distortion field, but it is what led him to actually be able to change reality‖.
Technology writer Kahney (2004) noted that the Mac technology was a decade before its time. As Jobs envisioned, the Mac was a computer for the average person. Jobs predicted that Apple would sell two million Mac machines within the first two year – this prediction proved to be overly optimistic. Computer sales were less than desirable and Apple – now a
$2 billion corporation with in excess of 7000 employees – felt the negative impact. Markkula 73 and Woz had gone and Jobs had to hire a new CEO – John Sculley former CEO of Pepsi.
While Sculley initially supported Jobs‘ vision for Apple, he soon lost faith in Jobs citing that technology could not be sold as a consumer product (Sheen, 2010). Jobs rebelled against
Sculley‘s idea to restructure the company and refocus Apple‘s resources on building computers for business use.
I was asked to move out of my office. They leased a little building across the street from most of the other Apple buildings. I nicknamed it Siberia. So I moved across the street, and I made sure that all of the executive staff had my home phone number . . . I wanted to be useful in any way I could . . . but none of them ever called. So I used to go to work. I‘d get there, and I would have one or two phone calls to perform, a little bit of mail to look at. But most of the corporate management reports stopped flowing by my desk. A few people might see my car in the parking lot and come over and commiserate. And I would get depressed and go home in two or three or four hours, really depressed. I did that a few times, and I decided that it was mentally unhealthy. So I just stopped going in. (Deutschman, 2000, p.46)
In 1982, as his relationship with Barbara Jasinski was approaching its end, Jobs met folksinger Joan Baez. While Joan Baez was fourteen years his senior, the 28 year old Jobs was charmed not only by her intelligence and sense of humour but with her connection to
Bob Dylan. Upon reflection Jobs recalls that ―it turned into a serious relationship between two accidental friends who became lovers‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p.251). Thirty years after their relationship had run its course Joan Baez was still perplexed by Jobs. She recalled a conversation between her and Jobs regarding a red Ralph Lauren dress that he deemed perfect for her. ―I said to myself, far out, terrific, I‘m with one of the world‘s richest men and he wants me to have this beautiful dress‖ (p. 253). Once Jobs had shown her the dress, he continued to purchase numerous shirts for himself and suggested she buys the dress for herself. Jobs was stunned by her subsequent disappointment. Joan Baez notes that he would gift her computers but not a dress that she could not afford. On the occasions that Jobs brought her flowers he made sure to inform her that they were merely left over from an office function. Joan Baez notes that ―he was both romantic and afraid to be romantic‖ (p.253).
The couple ended their relationship after three years and remained friends until his death. 74
Figure 4.16. Folk singer Joan Baez pictured with Bob Dylan (right) whom she dated prior to entering into a relationship with Jobs.
Wenn (2012) reported that Joan Baez paid tribute at Jobs‘ funeral by singing Swing Low
Sweet Chariot. Shortly after Jobs death she recalled:
He came by recently, and he was clearly close to the end, and we just sat out on the porch and looked out to the mountains. And then he emailed and said he'll be up in a month. I wrote back and said, ―Great, can I start nagging you about an iPhone?‖ He died a few months after that. Two days after his memorial, someone at Apple sent me an iPhone, which was very moving. Steve had a very sweet side, even if he was as... err... erratic as he was famous for being. But he gets genius licence for that, because he was somebody who changed the world. (Wenn, 2012, par.5)
What is NeXT? Jobs lost control of the Mac division and was eventually stripped from all operational duties at Apple in 1985. Jobs spent his new found freedom at the Stanford
University library. It is here that he conceived the idea to build a computer that would simulate experiments – aimed at the student and researcher population. It is this idea that gave rise to NeXT computers (Sheen, 2010). 75
Figure 4.17.Jobs launching NeXT computers subsequent to his departure from Apple Computers (Sheen, 2010).© Ed Kashi/Corbis.
Jobs‘ resigned from Apple in September of 1985, selling all but one of his Apple shares in order to fund NeXT computers. Jobs took with him five members of his Mac team, and as per his usual strategy, he hired the most gifted engineers he could find. Jobs, as demanding as ever, insisted on perfection. However, while the end result embodied ground breaking capabilities that impressed his target market, the computer did not sell well. NeXT consequently lost a staggering amount of money (Isaacson, 2011).
In 1986 Jobs bought controlling shares in a film company‘s computer graphics division of his new ‗hobby‘ Pixar. Pixar (as named by Jobs) was developing computer generated imagery which he predicted would replace traditional special effects and hand-drawn animation movies (Sheen, 2010). Even though Pixar was losing vast amounts of money while producing medical computers, Jobs continued to fund Pixar‘s creative division with his own private funds totalling $50 million. In 1988 Pixar released Oscar winning animation film Tin Toy, which would later inspire Toy Story. 76
A year after Jobs was ousted from Apple Clara Jobs was diagnosed with lung cancer. Jobs and Clara grew closer in the days before her death with Jobs displaying a gentle sensitivity that was not often manifested in him. While Jobs had his biological mother tracked down years earlier, he never contacted her out of a deep respect for his adoptive parents.
I never wanted them to feel like I didn‘t consider them my parents, because they were totally my parents, I loved them so much that I never wanted them to know of my search, and I even had reporters keep it quiet when any of them found out. (Isaacson, 2011, p.254) Upon Clara‘s death and with Paul Jobs‘ blessing, Jobs established contact with his biological mother, Joanne Simpson.
I believe in environment more than heredity in determining your traits, but still you have to wonder a little about your biological roots. I wanted to meet my biological mother mostly to see if she was okay and to thank her, because I‘m glad I didn‘t end up as an abortion. She was twenty-three and she went through a lot to have me. (Isaacson, 2011, p.254) Jobs was pleased to learn that he had a biological sister, Mona Simpson, who was a published writer. Isaacson (2011) notes that Jobs and Mona were similar in character – both displayed a level of intensity, were creative, observant, intuitive and wilful. Jobs and Mona would grow to have a close relationship.
Mona was not completely thrilled at first to have me in her life and have her mother so emotionally affectionate toward me. As we got to know each other, we became really good friends, and she is my family. I don‘t know what I‘d do without her. I can‘t imagine a better sister. My adopted sister, Patty, and I were never close. (p.255)
In 1986, when Lisa was eight years old, it became clear that besides their physical likeness, Lisa was like her father. She was intelligent, creative, defiant and high-spirited.
Lisa reports that as a young child she came to realise that her father‘s obsessions reflected his life philosophy and wisdom. Lisa noted that ―He knew the equations that most people didn‘t know: Things led to their opposites.‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p. 260). After spending time with her father in Tokyo, Lisa gained insight into her father‘s being. ―It was the first time I‘d felt, with him, so relaxed and content...he was less rigid with himself‖ (p. 261). 77
Figure 4.18. Jobs and his biological Figure 4.19. Jobs and his firstborn
sister Mona Jandali Simpson. daughter Lisa Brennan Jobs.
While Lisa became more integrated into Jobs‘ life, their relationship was not without its challenges. As with his colleagues, Jobs would often vacillate between playfulness and cold aloofness. Their mutual stubborn wilfulness lead to intense fights after which they would spend months not talking to each other. Both Lisa and Jobs found it exceptionally hard to reach out, apologise and heal after arguments. This pattern endured until Jobs‘ health became a concern.
Isaacson (2011) reported that Jobs had a tendency to “fall in love dramatically, share with friends every up and down of a relationship, and pine in public whenever he was away from his current girlfriend‖ (p.133). As Joan Baez and Jobs‘ relationship developed into a friendship rather than romantic relationship Jobs met Jennifer Egan. The two engaged in a long-distance relationship and soon Jobs declared his love for Egan. Egan noted that ―He felt a sense of urgency about all he wanted to get done‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p. 262). Their relationship ended after Egan told Jobs that she was not ready to get married and have a family.
Subsequent to his relationship with Egan, Jobs met Tina Redse. After intensely pursuing her Redse gave in to a date with Steve. Redse and Jobs‘ relationship was marked by passion and intensity both in the display of public affection and arguments. A few months into the 78
Figure 4.20. Jennifer Egan whom Jobs Figure 4.21. Tina Redse with whom Jobs had a dated after Joan Baez. turbulent and passionate relationship.
relationship Redse moved in with Jobs. Jobs noted ―She was the first person I was truly in love with. We had a very deep connection. I don‘t know that anyone will ever understand me better than she did‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p. 263). In an interview with Isaacson (2011) Redse recalled ―He said to me that we were misfits, which is why we belonged together‖ (p. 265).
It was not uncommon for Redse to move out of their shared house during a fight.
Isaacson (2011) noted that:
After one of her torrential arguments with Jobs Redse scrawled ‗neglect is a form of abuse‘ on the wall of the hallway to their bedroom. She was entranced by him, but she was also baffled by how uncaring he could be. She would later recall how incredibly painful it was to be in love with someone so self-centred. Caring deeply about someone who seemed incapable of caring was a particular kind of hell that she wouldn‘t wish on anyone. (p.264)
Redse and Jobs dated for five years and broke up after Jobs proposed marriage and Redse declined stating that she could not live the same volatile life she had escaped from as a child.
Isaacson (2011) reported that Jobs had always regretted that the relationship with Redse did not work, however, he did believe they were not destined to be together.
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According to Isaacson (2011, p.267), the right woman for Jobs would have to be:
Smart, yet unpretentious. Tough enough to stand up to him, yet Zen-like enough to rise above turmoil. Well-educated and independent, yet ready to make accommodations for him and a family. Down-to-earth, but with a touch of the ethereal. Savvy enough to know how to manage him, but secure enough to not always need to. And it wouldn‘t hurt to be a beautiful, lanky blonde with an easy going sense of humour who liked organic vegetarian food.
In 1989 Jobs met Laurene Powell at a lecture he presented at Stanford University. At the time of their first encounter Laurene worked as a fixed income trading strategist for Goldman
Sachs. However, like all relationships Jobs engaged in, this relationship was affected by
Jobs‘ intensity and ambivalence (Linzmayer, 2004). A family friend of the couple noted that
At times he and Powell would indulge in public displays of affection that were so intense they embarrassed everyone in their presence. Steve would fluctuate between intense focus, where she was the centre of the universe, to being coldly distant and focused on work. He had the power to focus like a laser beam, and when it came across you, you basked in the light of his attention. When it moved to another point of focus, it was very, very dark for you. It was very confusing to Laurene. (Isaacson, 2011, p.271)
Jobs noted that ―There were only two people in my life that I was truly in love with, Tina and Laurene‖ (p.269). A chance encounter with the ‗perfect woman‘ would later result in marriage and 3 children (Linzmayer, 2004). Laurene brought a grounding sense of stability and sensibility to Jobs‘ life, she engaged his sharp intellect and could endure the emotional complexities of their life together. Isaacson (2011, p.543) noted that
Jobs‘ relationship with his wife was sometimes complicated but always loyal. Savvy and compassionate, Laurene Powell was a stabilizing influence and an example of his ability to compensate for some of his selfish impulses by surrounding himself with strong-willed and sensible people. She weighed in quietly on business issues, firmly on family concerns, and fiercely on medical matters. Jobs married Laurene Powell in 1991 during a Buddhist ceremony. Once married,
Laurene and Jobs moved into an understated house located in a family-friendly neighbourhood. 80
Figure 4.22. Jobs and Laurene Powell. Jobs was captivated by Laurene’s Figure 4.23. Laurene and Jobs (pictured with Lisa) on their wedding day (1991). intelligence and beauty (1997).
While the home was located in a privileged neighbourhood, the house lacked the pretentiousness that would typically be associated with that of a billionaire couple. In an interview with Isaacson (2011) Bill Gates disclosed that he was perplexed by the understated nature of the house and its furnishings. Jobs did not have any security guards or live in servants and often left the back door of his house unlocked. It would take the couple eight years to decorate and furnish their family home to their unrelenting specifications and ideas regarding aesthetic appeal.
At the age of 14, after Jobs received a phone call from Lisa‘s school who were concerned about her wellbeing in the custody of Brennan, Lisa moved into the Jobs home. Lisa‘s intense desire to feel connected to her father was evident when she chose the room right next to his without hesitation. Lisa flourished throughout high school and attended Harvard
University. The stubborn volatility that became a trademark of Jobs and Lisa‘s relationship resulted in Jobs not attending her graduation from Harvard in 2000. Jobs recalls ―She didn‘t even invite me‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p.280).
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Figure 4.24. Lisa Brennan Jobs as a Figure 4.25. Jobs pictured with his teenager. Lisa’s relationship with Jobs was firstborn son, Reed. Reed resembled turbulent until the time of his death © Seth a more gentle Jobs. Poppel.
Laurene gave birth to her and Jobs‘ first child months after their wedding. Reed Paul
Jobs, as the first-born would be named, went by the name ‗baby boy Jobs‘ for two weeks since Jobs and Laurene had nearly as much difficulty choosing his name as they did picking furnishings for their house. According to Isaacson (2011, p.283), Reed was very similar to
Jobs.
Reed turned out to be like his father in many ways: incisive and smart, with intense eyes and a mesmerizing charm. But unlike his father, he had sweet manners and a self-effacing grace. He was creative—as a kid he liked to dress in costume and stay in character—and also a great student, interested in science. He could replicate his father‘s stare, but he was demonstrably affectionate and seemed not to have an ounce of cruelty in his nature.
In a casual conversation with Walter Isaacson, Jobs‘ authorised biographer, Reed conveyed to Isaacson (2011, p.538) ―He told me, with an intensely earnest look, that his father was not a cold profit-seeking businessman but was motivated by a love of what he did and a pride in the products he was making.‖
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Figure 4.26. Jobs with his second Figure 4.27. Jobs with his youngest born daughter, Erin. They had daughter, Eve. She mirrored Jobs’ difficulty relating to each other. wilful and stubborn characteristics.
In 1995 Erin Siena Jobs was born. She was quieter than Reed and at times suffered from not getting much of Jobs‘ attention – Erin learned to keep a distance so as to not be so affected by Jobs‘ detachment. Erin shared Jobs‘ interest in design. Isaacson (2011) reported that Erin was quiet, introspective and often struggled with handling Jobs and his cutting remarks. Upon requesting to speak to Walter Isaacson (2011), a 16 year old Erin indicated that she understood how Jobs‘ work demands impacted on the family. ―He does his best to be both a father and the CEO of Apple, and he juggles those pretty well. Sometimes I wish I had more of his attention, but I know the work he‘s doing is very important and I think it‘s really cool, so I‘m fine. I don‘t really need more attention‖ (p.541).
The youngest Jobs child, Eve, was born in 1998. Jobs would state that he saw himself reflected in her and described her as:
A pistol and has the strongest will of any kid I‘ve ever met. It‘s like payback. Eve is more sensitive than a lot of people think. She‘s so smart that she can roll over people a bit, so that means she can alienate people, and she finds herself alone. She‘s in the process of learning how to be who she is, but tempers it around the edges so that she can have the friends that she needs. (Isaacson, 2011, p.543)
While Jobs developed a strong bond with Reed, he often had difficulty connecting with his daughters. As was typical of Jobs‘ relational style, he would rapidly shift between 83 focusing on his daughters and ignoring them. Jobs‘ wife Laurene disclosed to Isaacson
(2011, p.544) that ―He focuses on his work, and at times he has not been there for the girls‖.
However, in a remarkable twist, Steve Jobs became a traditional family man. He could often be seen in-line skating with Lisa, playing ball with Reed and pushing a stroller around their home town (Sheen, 2010).
While Jobs‘ personal live seemed to finally be thriving, Pixar and NeXT were on the brink of financial disaster. Jobs dramatically restructured both companies. He closed the hardware and sales divisions of NeXT, focusing the company‘s resources on software development in order to compete with Microsoft Windows. In addition, Jobs sold the computer division of Pixar but left the creative computer animation division intact. At the same time, Jobs managed to secure funding from Disney in order to create and release Toy
Story four years later. Jobs made Pixar‘s stock available to the public and became an overnight billionaire (Isaacson, 2011).
In the decade that Jobs‘ had been gone from Apple, the company had lost money and its reputation as an unconventional and cutting edge company. Apple computers lacked the attention to detail and creative design that secured it a market share a decade earlier. Sculley was no longer CEO and Amelio, the new CEO, wanted Jobs back. Sheen (2010) reported that Jobs secretly wanted to go back to his home, Apple. Jobs drove a hard deal which resulted in Apple (under lead from Amelio) buying NeXT from Jobs in addition to giving him 1.5 million shares in Apple. Jobs returned to Apple as an informal adviser in December
1996.
The final chapter.
Return of the Lost Son. Upon his return to Apple, Jobs realised that Apple was in a state of disarray. In July of 1997, Apple‘s board offered Jobs the CEO position and an exorbitant 84 salary– he declined both the position and salary and stayed on as interim CEO. Jobs seldom accepted a salary from his companies. As he explained:
I was worth about over a million dollars when I was twenty-three and over ten million dollars when I was twenty-four, and over a hundred million dollars when I was twenty- five and it wasn‘t that important because I never did it for the money. (Sheen, 2010, p.85)
Jobs immediately rolled out a radical turn-around strategy to improve Apple‘s functioning.
In a controversial move, Jobs made a deal with Bill Gates (Microsoft) which would allow
Mac computers to use Microsoft Explorer as a web browser in addition to its Office software.
While this move did not prove popular with Apple loyalists, Apple‘s stock rose with 33% as a result (Sheen, 2010). Next, Jobs turned his attention to Apple‘s employees. He met with all employees and gave each employee an opportunity to convince him that the product that they were working on had value. Through these exchanges with employees, Jobs identified who could add value to the company and who were simply dead weight and should be fired.
An Apple employee related the following: ―Steve tests you, challenges you, frightens you.
He uses this tactic to get the truth...it‘s his way of asking: ‗Do you believe in what you are saying?‘ If you wither or blather, you‘re lost‖ (Deutschman, 2000, p.291). Jobs worked directly with the hundreds of staff he retained. Nothing (not even buying stationary) happened without his consent or knowledge. Jobs fully regained control of Apple (Sheen,
2010).
The final step of his turn-around strategy was to launch an aggressive advertising campaign in order to regain Apple‘s image of a renegade and cutting-edge company -an image that was synonymous with Jobs‘. The phrase ‗Think Different‘ would be the trademark of the advertising campaign. This phrase would be printed above images of innovative thinkers like Albert Einstein, John Lennon and Mahatma Gandhi to name a few. Jobs intention was to remind not only consumers but Apple employees what they were striving for
(Isaacson, 2011). 85
Figure 4.28. Yoko Ono and John Lennon as featured in Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign (Sheen, 2010). © Getty Images.
Once Apple was turning a profit again (five months after Jobs took over) he refocused his attention on product development. Apple subsequently developed products that revolutionised technological advances in the fields of music, computing and telephones.
These products include the iMac (inexpensive, easy to set up computer which connected to the internet); iBook (laptop version of the iMac which became the best-selling computer of its time); iTunes (digital music store – making compact disc (CD) accessible on computer); iPod
(portable small and sleek music player – Apple‘s best-selling product at the time of release) and; iTunes Music Store (online music store – combating song piracy and making song purchases online possible) (Sheen, 2010). In addition to Apple thriving, Pixar was doing well. In 2000 Jobs agreed to become CEO of Apple and accepted ten million shares of the company‘s stock – worth an estimated $800 million. It is here where Jobs remained for the remainder of his working life, while running Pixar. Isaacson (2011) stated that Jobs would recount that he was so exhausted at night that he could not speak. 86
Figure 4.29. The iMac, iBook, iPod Nan, iPhone and iPad as released by Apple under Jobs’ as CEO. Fulfilment and mortality. While Jobs‘ professional life could not go better, a personal crisis was looming. Jobs was diagnosed with cancer in October of 2003 (Smith, 2011). In mid-2004, he announced to employees that he had a cancerous tumour in his pancreas, identified as ‗islet cell neuroendocrine tumour‘ by Jobs (Evangelista, 2004). Disregarding advice from his doctors, Jobs resolutely decided to adopt a regime of alternative medicine. In
July of 2004, Jobs underwent a procedure that appeared to have successfully removed the tumour (Childs & Dolak, 2011). Jobs‘ close encounter with death forced him to re-evaluate his life:
One thing that came out most clearly from this whole experience...I realized that I love my life. I really do. I‘ve got the greatest family in the world and I‘ve got my work. And that‘s pretty much all I do. I don‘t socialize much or go to conferences. I love my family, and I love running Apple and I love Pixar. And I get to do that I‘m very lucky. (Burrows, 2004)
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In Jobs‘ Stanford Commencement Address, he reflected on the cancer diagnosis and the value he derived from this life experience and the manner in which he lived his life.
I was diagnosed with cancer…The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months…This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful, but purely intellectual, concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And, most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. (Naughton, 2011, para.20)
A month later Jobs returned to Apple on a part-time basis. Jobs was as intense and as motivated as ever – soon the iPhone (2007) debuted. It was a simple, elegant cellular phone which also operated as a small hand-held mini-computer – an innovative product, the only of its kind at the time (Smith, 2011).
Jobs celebrated his 55th birthday in 2010. It was an intimate celebration amongst family members and the house was decorated with balloons and streamers. Laurene noted her disappointment that Jobs did not spend more time with the children but continued to work. ―I think it was hard on the family, especially the girls. After two years of him being ill, he finally gets a little better, and they expected he would focus a bit on them, but he didn‘t‖
(Isaacson, 2011, p.543). Jobs would later be ranked as Forbes‘ (2010) 17th most powerful person and Man of the Year by The Financial Times (2010). His contribution to modern technology was widely acknowledged and revered.
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Figure 4.30. Jobs and Laurene at a public Figure 4.31. Jobs’ decline in health was event shortly before his death © San physically noticeable from 2004 – 2011. Francisco Chronicle
Laurene, who wanted to ensure that Jobs biographer, Isaacson, fully capture the complexities of Jobs‘ being, emphasised the following in a conversation with Isaacson (2011, p.544) ―Like many great men whose gifts are extraordinary, he‘s not extraordinary in every realm. He doesn‘t have social graces, such as putting himself in other people‘s shoes, but he cares deeply about empowering humankind, the advancement of humankind, and putting the right tools in their hands.‖
Jobs‘ health steadily declined over the following five years, resulting in a liver transplant in April 2009 (Isaacson, 2011). Isaacson (2011) noted that Jobs deeply regretted not undergoing surgery earlier. Jobs announced his resignation as Apple‘s Chief Executive
Officer in August of 2011 stating that ―I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple‘s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come." Jobs continued to work for Apple until the day before his death, six weeks later on 5 October, 2011 (Biddle, 2011).
Conclusion
This chapter provided an overview of the life of Steven Paul Jobs by illuminating events of his lived life. An overview of his childhood, schooling, career and the relationships was provided while attempting to capture glimpses of the person behind these experiences. 89
Chapter 5 will address the research design and methodology as relevant to the present research study.
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CHAPTER 5
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Chapter Preview
This chapter provides an overview and consideration of the preliminary methodological considerations and difficulties inherent to a psychobiographical study. The chapter includes a discussion of the strategies employed to overcome such difficulties and focuses on: the analysis of an absent subject, researcher bias, reconstruction, reductionism, pathography, cross-cultural differences, inflated expectations, elitism and easy genre as applied to the psychobiographical recount of the life of Steven Paul Jobs. The aims of the research, the research design, the psychobiographical subject, the data collection and analysis methods are outlined. Considerations related to trustworthiness (credibility) and how these principles relate to qualitative research studies are addressed. The chapter concludes with a review of the ethical considerations applicable to the study.
Primary Aim of the Research
The primary aim of the research is to explore and describe the life of Steven Paul Jobs.
This life-history exploration will be guided by the systematic use of psychological theory to transform a life into a coherent story. This design is used to confirm, challenge or extend theory with a specified set of propositions and circumstances under which these propositions are believed to be true (Yin, 2003). It is the researcher‘s intent to provide a full, rich and accurate description of Steven Paul Jobs‘ life and psychosocial development in order to understand him within his socio-historical context. By doing so, the researcher aims to realistically portray and describe a phenomenon while clarifying and testing the propositions of specific theories (Edwards, 1990), which, in the proposed study, will be Alfred Adler‘s theory of Individual Psychology (1929) and Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987). 91
Preliminary Methodological Considerations
The researcher acknowledges the criticisms and potential obstacles central to the psychobiographical approach. Significant methodological considerations need to be applicably addressed in order for a psychobiography to qualify as worthwhile or scientific, ensuring that quality in the research process in upheld (Stroud, 2004). Anderson (1981) suggested the following limitations in psychobiographical research which will be discussed with a description of how these limitations will be addressed in the present study.
Analysing an absent subject. Psychobiographical studies are often criticised for being open to numerous explanations due to the absence of the subject and lack of data – a problem that is not frequently encountered in everyday practice with a present subject (Runyan, 1982).
However, psychobiographers are able to utilize various sources of information, allowing analysis in terms of their ultimate effects (Anderson, 1981) – suggesting that that the absence of the subject need not be viewed as problematical or advantageous. In the present study, the utilisation of a variety of different sources of data allowed the researcher to gather data which provided different, diverse perspectives and ultimately led to a rich and full picture of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs. Sources of data used included authorised biographies, interviews, speeches and news articles.
Researcher bias. Long term in depth study into an individual‘s life may cause the researcher to experience a personal and/or subjective reaction toward the subject of the study.
Schultz (2005) noted that the psychobiographer‘s personal background and individual biases may intensify sensitivities about certain aspects of the subject‘s life and personality, leading toward biased or incomplete views of other aspects of the subject. Anderson (1981) cautioned that a risk exists that the researcher may tend either toward idealising or degrading the subject. 92
Addressing personal biases can be guided by increasing self-awareness, conscientious research and by utilizing a variety of methodological guidelines (Schultz, 2005). The researcher addressed this issue through conscientious consultation with her research supervisor. In addition to supervisor consultation, the researcher engaged in research triangulation whereby she consulted with other psychobiographical researchers for objective commentary on her relationship with her chosen subject (Anderson, 1981). Finally, the researcher kept a research journal which allowed her to remain cognizant of subjective, biased responses toward the psychobiography subject.
Reconstruction. Reconstruction occurs as result of the inversion of psychological facts, allowing the psychobiographer to make inferences for which no direct evidence exists. This is likely to occur in the absence of verifiable data about the subject‘s childhood history
(Schultz, 2005). In a conscious attempt to avoid the phenomena of reconstruction, the researcher focused on interpreting facts, not inferred facts, as verified by the numerous authorised biographies written about the life of the research subject, Steven Paul Jobs.
Reductionism. Anderson (1981) states that psychobiographies tend to be criticised for being reductionistic in approach. According to Runyan (1984) psychobiographies run the risk of emphasising psychological factors at the expense of social and historical factors; of focusing on psychopathological processes at the expense of normal and creative processes; and of explaining adult behaviour excessively in terms of childhood experiences. However,
Schultz (2005, p.10) cautioned that ―childhood can be key‖ to understanding the development of personality and should not be neglected in its entirety, stating that ―childhood is almost always a factor; it isn‘t ever the only factor‖.
This study attempted to avoid or minimise reductionism by utilising multiple sources of data and maintaining continued awareness of the subject within his social and historical context, regardless of the developmental life period as suggested by Runyan (1988). 93
This conscious precaution allowed the researcher to maintain appreciation of the complexity of the holistic subject (Fouché & Van Niekerk, 2005a).
Pathography. Schultz (2005) defines pathography as a form of reductionism that minimizes the complexity of a holistic personality to static psychopathological categories and symptoms. Theorists such as Elms (1994) suggested that a eugraphic approach is likely to result in a more balanced view of the subject. Fouché and Van Niekerk (2005a) indicate that the focus of the psychobiographer should primarily aim at understanding how the subject became and remained relatively psychologically well-functioning.
The researcher aimed to avoid patholigising the subject by avoiding the excessive use of pathology jargon and using a more health-orientated theoretical approach such as Aaron
Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987) theory in analysing the subject as suggested by
Elms (1994).
Cross-cultural differences. Psychobiographical studies can be considered cross-cultural studies as the culture and period of the subject would differ from the researcher‘s present day culture (Anderson, 1981). Runyan (1982) emphasised that it is fundamentally important to integrate the research subject‘s psychological characteristics with the multitude of contexts within which the person lived. In-depth historical research into the historical context of the research subject allowed for the fostering of a culturally empathic understanding of the research subject (Anderson, 1981).
The researcher actively undertook consideration of cross-cultural factors that pertained to the subject, including the subject‘s religious/spiritual, historical, cultural, moral, economic, social and political background. A timeline (Appendix C), which provides a snapshot of the subject in time, was employed to illustrate the subject‘s context in consideration of the relevant cross-cultural factors. In addition, the researcher consulted a variety of primary and secondary sources of data as suggested by Berg (1995). 94
Inflated expectations. Throughout the proposed study the researcher remained cognizant that the psychological explanations gained from the psychobiographical study would add information to an existing body of knowledge. Such psychological explanations have thus not be conveyed as absolute assertions by the researcher (Voster, 2003). These psychological explanations and interpretations made by the biographer can be described as being speculative rather than absolute (Anderson, 1981).
Elitism and easy genre. Runyan (1988) noted that psychobiographies have been criticised for being elitist and an easy genre. Elitist psychobiographies are perceived to only focus on prominent and privileged people while ignoring the lived lives and contributions made by ordinary individuals. The mere interest in the experience of ‗non-elitist‘ or ordinary individuals is not an adequate reason for selecting a research subject as value is to be found in the analysis of both elitist and ordinary individuals. Runyan (1988) continued to state that that the offered interpretation and analysis of the lived life in context rather than elitism of the subject should be the key focus of psychobiography. Steven Paul Jobs was selected because of his significance as an inventor, entrepreneur and visionary. He was also selected for the unique and significant life that he lived (Yin, 2003).
Elms (1994) as well as Runyan (1988) argued that psychobiography is more than the aggregation of the research subject‘s biographies and thus cannot be reduced to an ‗easy genre‘. A good psychobiography, that seeks to add to existing theory and knowledge, is marked by extensive research into the subject‘s socio-historical context combined with a skilled weaving and analysis of the manner in which these historical contexts contributed to the complex process of personality development. Elms (1994, p.217) noted that
―psychobiographical interpretation is a complex three-tiered intellectual enterprise which needs to draw not just on those theories which hold universally, but also on group and context-specific generalizations‖. 95
Research Design
The study of the life of Steven Paul Jobs may be described as life history research
(Runyan, 1988) with a qualitative single-case research design (Yin, 1994). McAdams (1988) motivated that the research design serves as a means of investigation into an individual case through the systematic use of psychological theory to transform a life into a coherent story.
This design is used to confirm, challenge or extend theory with a specified set of propositions and circumstances under which these propositions are believed to be true (Yin, 2003).
The study is both exploratory-descriptive and descriptive-dialogic in nature. The exploratory-descriptive nature refers to the researcher‘s intent to provide a full, rich and accurate description of Steven Paul Jobs‘ life and psychosocial development in order to understand him within his socio-historical context. The descriptive-dialogic nature refers to the aim of realistically portraying and describing a phenomenon while clarifying and testing the propositions of specific theory/theories (Edwards, 1990), which, in the present study, was be Alfred Adler‘s theory of Individual Psychology (1929) and Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of
Coherence (1987).
The Psychobiographical Subject
Case study approaches, like psychobiography, seek to understand the uniqueness and complexity of a lived life. According to Howe (1997) a reason for selecting a particular subject is based on the subject‘s interest or significance. Steven Paul Jobs‘ entire lifespan was researched in a qualitative case study. Steven Paul Jobs was intentionally and specifically selected, therefore the sampling technique used was purposive. He was selected for the unique and significant life that he lived (Yin, 2003). Steven Paul Jobs was selected because of his significance as an inventor, entrepreneur and visionary; from unwanted child and college drop-out to a household name that revolutionised computer technology as the world has come to know it. Ranked as Forbes‘ (2010) 17th most powerful person and Man of 96 the Year by The Financial Times (2010), Jobs‘ contribution to modern technology is widely acknowledged and revered.
Data Collection and Analysis
For the purposes of this study, data was collected from numerous primary and secondary sources including autobiographical works, news articles and interviews. The use of multiple data sources aimed at enhancing the internal validity of the information collected (Yin, 2003).
In addition, Yin also suggested that a case study database be created in support of the maintenance of a reliable chain of evidence. For this purpose, a data analysis grid (Appendix
B) was designed and utilized by the researcher to ensure consistent and quality data analysis.
The analysis of case study data can be defined as a process of examining, extracting, categorising, tabulating and recombining evidence (Yin, 2003). Analysis of case study evidence poses a challenge as analytical strategies and techniques have not always been well defined. In this regard Yin (2003) suggested that every analysis should begin with a general analytical strategy. Analytical strategies will enable the researcher to prioritise the evidence for analysis. Yin (2003) suggested two strategies, namely: relying on theoretical propositions and developing a case description.
The researcher‘s analysis was guided by theoretical propositions which served as a reminder to the researcher that the case study is based on particular objectives and propositions. These propositions reflected research questions that provided insight into the objectives of the study and the content of the theoretical approach. The units of analysis were analysed according to the psychobiographical model of Alexander (1988) whose method suggests the extraction of core identifying units (or themes). Alexander (1988) suggests approaching the personal data in two ways, namely letting the data reveal itself and asking the data questions. In order to let the data reveal itself, the researcher utilized Alexander‘s nine principle identifiers of data salience as explained below in section 5.6.1. By asking the 97 data questions, the researcher considered questions related to the specific aims of the study which allowed the sorting of large amounts of information in order to answer specific questions. According to Alexander (1988) reducing the data to specific answers and themes improves the credibility of the findings.
Irving Alexander’s nine principle identifiers of data salience (1988: 268 – 278).
Primacy. Primacy refers to the link established between the first concept and its importance. The information presented first is generally perceived as being most important or in the forefront of the mind. According to Elms (1994), early memories, first experiences and an autobiography‘s opening remarks are worthy of special attention.
Frequency. There is assumed to be a direct correlation between the frequency with which information is repeated and the information‘s importance or certainty.
Uniqueness. Events or information which are singular, unusual or abnormal warrant closer inspection.
Negation. The importance or salience of events or information which is denied or turned opposite in explanation is referred to as negation. Negation statements are frequently indicators of conceivably repressed or unconscious material.
Emphasis. Emphasis refers to the significance of events which are either over- or under- emphasised. Over-emphasis is seen when attention is paid to something typically considered ordinary, while under-emphasis is seen when little attention is paid to something seemingly important.
Omission. The researcher should consider what is missing from the picture when considering the person‘s lived life. For example, the omission of appropriate affect rather than cognition is common.
Errors or distortion. The researcher should consider the presence of mistakes, often related to person, place or time (Schultz, 2005). 98
Isolation. Isolation refers to information which does not fit into the whole, or stands alone.
Incompletion. This is seen when an event is described or explained, but prematurely terminated without closure.
Developing a case description assisted the researcher in establishing a conceptual framework for arranging, organising and reducing the data collected, which in turn assisted the researcher in formulating appropriate hypotheses. The researcher used the appended data analysis grid (Appendix B) for the categorisation of the indicators of the personality development of Jobs‘ lifespan according to Alfred Adler‘s theory of Individual Psychology
(1929) and Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987).
Ensuring Trustworthiness
The credibility of a qualitative research study is important in terms of evaluating the research study‘s worth (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
Validity and reliability criticism. Psychobiographies have been criticised for being too subjective to be classified as a scientific method, lacking reliability and validity (McAdams,
1988). According to Lincoln and Guba (1985), constructs such as validity, reliability and objectivity are not suitable for qualitative research. As an alternative, De Vos (2005) identified the following constructs to accurately reflect the qualitative research methodology: credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability.
To ensure credibility the present study aimed to describe and explore Steven Paul Jobs in- depth. This exploration and description occurred within the stated parameters as suggested by the Data Analysis Grid illustrated in Appendix B. The intricate nature and interactions of the variables inherent to psychobiographical study was thus embedded within the data derived from various sources so that they could not help but be valid (De Vos, 2005). 99
Yin (1994) suggests that transferability in the context of psychobiography (as is the case in the present study) refers to generalizing the results of the study to the theories applied and is not concerned with generalising the findings to the population at large. It should be noted that the aim of a psychobiography is not to generalise findings to the general population but rather determining the generalizability of the findings to Adler‘s Theory of Individual
Psychology (1929) in combination with Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987).
The construct of dependability is related to the consistency of the findings in terms of the research question, data collection and analysis of the material. While Krefting (1991) noted that variability and exceptional situations are valued as learning opportunities in the context of qualitative research, Rudestam and Newton (1992) suggested that the psychobiographer follow a consistent coding system upon collection of the raw data. This systematic coding process was followed and allowed for enhanced auditability of the identified themes in the collected data. By employing a systematic coding process, consistency in data analysis and collection of the material is enhanced.
The confirmability of the present study was enhanced by testing whether the findings of the research study can be confirmed by another (Krefting, 1991). The researcher was thus concerned not with objectivity but with the degree to which the utilized data could be confirmed. By making use of triangulation, the researcher ensured that data was cross- checked by an objective third party. By gaining multiple perspectives researcher bias was limited.
Ethical Considerations
The study was carried out in accordance with the Ethical Guidelines laid out by the Health
Professions Council of South Africa (2008). Ethical guidelines emphasise that psychobiographies are ideally conducted on persons who have been deceased for some time to ensure that no surviving persons be embarrassed by disagreeable discoveries or 100 revelations. To safeguard the ethical integrity of the research, the researcher utilized data
(interviews and autobiographies) which were published or in the public domain focusing on autobiographies written with the full consent of the research subject. At the time of research, a Steve Jobs Foundation was not in existence and could therefore not be approached by the researcher to gain consent from surviving relatives of Jobs. All citations and sources were acknowledged and appropriately referenced. The study was approved by the Research
Committee of the university at which the researcher was registered.
Conclusions
This chapter highlighted the preliminary methodological considerations involved in a psychobiographical study as applied to the life of Steven Paul Jobs. A discussion of the primary aim of the research, the research method and design, the psychobiographical subject, data collection and analysis was addressed. Trustworthiness and ethical issues as prevalent in a study of a psychobiographical nature were also considered. Chapter 6 provides the research findings and discussions as relevant to the application of Adler‘s theory of Individual
Psychology (1929) and Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987) to the lived life of
Steven Paul Jobs.
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CHAPTER 6
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Chapter Preview
In this chapter, the personality development of Steven Paul Jobs will be explored in context of the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler (1929). As a supplement to the theory of individual psychology, Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1978) will be utilized to further explore the dynamics of Jobs‘ lived life. Sections 6.2.1- 6.2.7 will elaborate on Steven Paul
Jobs‘ life experiences through the lens of individual psychology while section 6.2.8 will illustrate an interpretation of Jobs‘ life from the wellness paradigm of Aaron Antonovsky.
Research Findings and Discussion
Adopted. Chosen. Special. Adlerian individual psychology (1929) places an emphasis on social context, interpersonal relationships and subjective experience with a strong focus on the future, holism and the individual‘s choice-making capacity (Ansbacher & Ansbacher,
1956). Individual psychology is underpinned by the notion that every individual strives toward his ultimate goal (Adler, 1988). A goal or self-ideal which is unique to the individual, directs the individual‘s striving from inferiority to superiority. This striving towards a goal or self-ideal is in part influenced by biological and environmental factors but is in essence the individual‘s own creation, thus resulting in a fictional goal or self-ideal. According to Adler
(1988), the individual formulates this goal within the first months of life.
For the majority of his lived life, Steven Paul Jobs refused to make his family background
- more specifically details surrounding his childhood - known to the public (Naughton,
2011). However, in a graduate commencement address that he delivered at Stanford
University in June 2005, Jobs candidly spoke about his adoption, a subject that was previously off limits to the public. 102
My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course". (Naughton, 2011, para. 5)
Einarson (2008) reports that it is imperative to note that an adopted child‘s first life experience is that of abandonment and rejection. In order to understand the adopted child from an individual psychology framework it becomes important to comprehend how this first life experience impacted on the child‘s goal formulation, perception of the world, feeling of value and sense of belonging. The fact that Jobs was adopted (abandoned and rejected) appears to play a key role in his self-consistent personality development – not only from a theoretical vantage point but also in terms of the emphasis Jobs placed on this event and the meaning he derived from this first life experience. One could infer that this first life experience of abandonment and rejection gives the child a notion that they are inferior, not wanted and inadequate. While individual psychology maintains that all individuals are born with an innate sense of inferiority it can be reasoned that the adopted child‘s feelings of inadequacy and ‗unwantedness‘ intensifies the otherwise ‗normal‘ feelings of inferiority.
However, it is conceivable that Jobs received an ambiguous message regarding his inferiority
– yes, he was rejected and abandoned, but he was also chosen.
As an adopted child, Jobs was ‗born into‘ a family desperate for a child. His parents, Paul and Clara, were open with Jobs with regards to the adoption from a young age. Jobs vividly recalled conversations about his adoption, as a child of six years, following questioning from a friend that implied his real parents did not want him.
Lightning bolts went off in my head. I remember running into the house, crying. My parents said, ‗No, you have to understand.‘ They were very serious and looked me in the eye. They said, ‗We specifically picked you out.‘ Both of my parents said that and repeated it slowly for me. And they put emphasis on every word in that sentence. (Isaacson, 2011, p.4) 103
His adoptive parents, Paul and Clara Jobs, chose him and wanted him. He was thus more special than ‗normal‘ children - normal children are born into a family, but Jobs was picked by his parents. A dynamic relationship between his intense feelings of inferiority and resolute belief that he is special will become clear in the context of his functioning as an adult. In addition to the fact that Jobs was adopted, it is also prudent to consider Jobs‘ position within the family constellation in the context of his birth order. As Jobs was the first child introduced to the Jobs family, he can be regarded as the first-born or oldest. Individual psychology is not concerned with the child‘s number in the order of births per se, but rather with the situation into which the child is born and how the child makes sense of this.
According to Sweeney (2009), oldest (first-born) children generally find it easy to relate to adults and will subscribe to adult expectations and values. Moreover, they readily assume responsibility and develop socially acceptable ways of coping with life‘s tasks. However, older children are likely to strive for perfection as a guiding fictional-goal. The degree to which this childhood striving toward perfection is moderated over time will impact on the degree to which the adult will strive for perfection. First-born children often show an interest in the past and generally understand the importance of power and authority within the context of relationships (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Oldest children are described as spoiled and continually craving to be the centre of attention due to the great deal of attention they received when they initially entered the family (Adler, 1958). Upon arrival of the second- born child, there is an unexpected decline in attention, resulting in the oldest child experiencing intense feelings of dethronement.
In addition to being the first child in the family, Jobs could also be expected to display characteristics of an only child. Adler (1958) noted that children who are spaced many years apart from each other will have some features consistent with that of an only child. Jobs enjoyed the position of only child until his parents adopted a younger girl, Patty, five years 104 later. According to Adler (1958), an only child is likely to thrive on being the centre of attention and will generally spend a significant amount of time in the company of adults. The only child can be regarded as a pampered child. Only children are likely to appear mature for their age, responsible, cooperative, and developing mastery in cognitive skills. Their most likely perceived deficiency will be in relating to their peer group and mastery of imagination
(Sweeney, 2009).
Jobs was the only child in the Jobs‘ family for five years. As an oldest and adopted child,
Jobs was the centre of the Jobs household. As with other oldest children, Jobs is likely to have experienced dethronement when his parents introduced another child to the Jobs family.
Older children generally develop a striving to protect and help others and often develop a great talent for organization. However, this striving to protect others may also be exaggerated into a desire to control others. One can infer that feelings associated with the normal dethronement process were intensified by Jobs‘ initial life experiences of abandonment and rejection. This once predictable environment, where Jobs and his needs were of paramount concern thus also proves unpredictable - one is not always the centre focus – at any stage someone can come along and compete for the family‘s affections. In order to remain special and reduce feelings of inferiority, Jobs likely felt that he needed to control his environment and the people within it. Jobs learned to control people in order to make them bend to his will. This component of his personality structure is consistent and was evident throughout his life-span as elaborated on later in this chapter.
Jobs was reportedly a challenging child from a young age as he demonstrated intensity, strength of will and a desire to set rules. These characteristics are consistent with that of oldest and only children. Sheen (2010) explained that Paul and Clara soon realised that it was futile to fight with a headstrong toddler, allowing Jobs to do as he wished. Jobs stubborn wilfulness often got him into trouble and he was known to convince friends to follow suit. 105
While mastery of imagination often poses a challenge to children who share Jobs‘ position within the family, this was not true for Jobs. From an early age Jobs showed creativity and imagination by expressing interest in Paul Jobs‘ hobbies (mechanics and engineering) and by playing pranks on others and bending the rules.
Although he was frequently warned against it, he could not restrain himself from sticking a bobby pin into an electrical outlet. The resultant trip to the emergency room did not stop him from swallowing ant poison, which he knew was taboo, or from persuading one of his playmates to do the same. (Sheen, 2010, p.14)
While Jobs excelled within the areas of creative imagination and mastery of cognitive skills, he did however experience difficulty in relating to his peers. It is noteworthy that Jobs had difficulty relating to peers but did not have difficulty convincing them to follow his lead.
Jobs‘ difficulty in establishing interpersonal relationships may be due to his first life experience in addition to his birth order experience. Gray (as cited in Einarson, 2008, p.19) noted that because the child‘s first experience of life is marked by loss and separation, the adopted child learns that it is not safe to trust. In response to the feelings of distrust, the child develops a protection mechanism of hyper-vigilance to protect the adopted child from re- experiencing rejection or abandonment in future relationships.
Einarson (2008) states that an adopted child is likely to construct their self-ideal around the following notions that a) people can‘t be trusted, b) life is not safe, c) if I don‘t look out for myself no one else will, d) I am alone; and e) I am inferior to others. In response to this subjective construction of the self, the child is likely to conclude that loneliness is intolerable, leading the child to seek out relationships that he can control. In addition to controlling the relationships he engages in, the child will resort to sabotaging relationships rather than being vulnerable and risking rejection.
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The curious prankster. Adler (1988) stated that the influences and impressions imposed on a child within the context of the child‘s environment would determine the psychological goal toward which all of the child‘s actions will be directed. It becomes important to keep in mind that even though the environment will influence the development of personality, the environment will not cause what people become (Boeree, 2006). When considering Jobs‘ school career and functioning beyond the family constellation, patterns of his self-ideal
(personality) and fictional goal start to emerge.
Jobs' school career was riddled with frustrations over formal schooling. Jobs‘ mother taught him to read before he entered the schooling system. While Paul Jobs challenged Jobs during his spare time, school bored him. Jobs regularly refused to go to school and refused to do school work that he had already mastered. On the rare occasions he did as he was told, he completed the work well before his peers. He was significantly ahead of his classmates on an intellectual level and did not relate well to his peers on a social level (Sheen, 2010). Jobs often played pranks on others at school, showing rebellion and an intellectual superiority which was evident in the pranks. According to Isaacson (2011) Jobs already displayed a mélange of sensitivity and insensitivity, bristliness and disinterest that would become a hallmark of his personality. Jobs recalls that his dad ―knew the school was at fault for trying to make me memorize stupid stuff rather than stimulating me‖ (p.13).
One can reasonably surmise that the early influences the school environment impressed on Jobs were significant. The schooling context confirmed the same ‗ideas about self‘ that
Jobs formed within his family environment. In one of his numerous interviews with Walter
Isaacson (2011), Jobs disclosed the following:
It was a very big moment that‘s burned into my mind. When I realised that I was smarter than my parents, I felt tremendous shame for having thought that. I will never forget that moment…Both my parents got me. They felt a lot of responsibility once they sensed that I was special. They found ways to keep feeding me stuff and putting me in better schools. They were willing to defer to my needs. (p.11) 107
A child who can read before he starts school is special and will likely be regarded as superior to other children in an academic context. Instead of disciplining Jobs for his behaviour at school, Paul Jobs held the school accountable for failing to engage his son - Jobs was special and therefore the school needed to adapt their offerings to meet his intellectual demands. Jobs‘ ‗specialness‘ extended beyond the home environment – not only was his needs catered to at home but his school environment also had to adapt and recognise that he was different to the other ‗ordinary‘ children.
Jobs‘ fourth grade teacher had a significant impact upon him, not only as a child in a schooling system but also as an influence that made a lasting impact upon Jobs as a person.
According to Jobs (Interview, 1995), Mrs. Hill realised that he had an abundance of energy and gained his interest by bribing him with sweets and money and by assigning him special projects like building a camera. Jobs reports that he is certain he would have ended up in jail if it was not for Mrs. Hill‘s remarkable influence. ―In my class, it was me she cared about.
She saw something in me‖ (Isaacson, 2011, p.13). Jobs‘ relationship with Mrs. Hill illustrates how dependent healthy functioning is on social interest. In addition to illustrating
Jobs‘ social interest in the context of his early life, his relationship with Mrs. Hill also illustrates how, regardless of constitutional attributes and environment, the child has the option to make the final choices with regards to the lifestyle and final goal.
Isaacson (2011) noted that it was evident from Jobs‘ schooling career that he was not inclined to accept authority. ―I encountered authority of a different kind than I had ever encountered before, and I did not like it. And they really almost got me. They came close to really beating any curiosity out of me‖ (p.12). Instead of forcing Jobs to conform to the schooling system, Mrs. Hill encouraged and harnessed Jobs‘ creative power and curiosity.
While Mrs. Hill was certainly not the only person to validate Jobs in the context of social 108 interest, her interest in Jobs and ‗something in him‘ encouraged him to choose more socially adaptive behaviour rather than pursuing a faulty lifestyle of criminal activity.
While Jobs was intellectually superior to children his age, his social skills (social interest) was lacking. It can be reasoned that Jobs used his intellect as a compensatory mechanism in response to the inferiority experienced within the social context. Feelings of inferiority are inherent to the human state (Adler, 1988). According to Adler (1929), individuals‘ behaviour is driven by their struggle for success or superiority. The striving towards a state of superiority is initiated by an experience of perceived inferiority linked to childhood and family experiences – this striving toward superiority thus becomes an attempt to compensate for felt inferiority (Adler, 1929, 1930). Adler (1930, 1958) noted that the creative power of the individual will encourage striving towards the direction of the unique fictional goal. This creative power will in essence work with the child to make sense of influences and overcome obstacles. This creative power is felt as an impulse driving the child towards adaptation to felt inferiority (Adler, 1929) and towards the establishment of a self-consistent goal (Adler,
1930). When school work did not hold his attention, Jobs utilized his creative power in an attempt to relieve his felt inferiority. Once he managed to outwit teachers and his peers his immediate inferiority feelings were dampened and he was one step closer to his final and fictional goal.
The striving for power can be understood as the individual‘s attempt to fulfil a desire for enhanced self-esteem. The nature and extent of the individual‘s inferiority depends on the individual‘s reaction to the perceived weakness (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). The way in which the child chooses to overcome the felt inferiority is uniquely creative to the child
(Adler, 1929, 1930). It stands to reason that Jobs perceived his weakness as being deficient in some way and unwanted. His armour of choice was his intellect. 109
The adoptee‘s striving toward superiority is complex and paradoxical. Gray (as cited in Einarson, 2008, p.20) noted that adoptees generally appear very confident, often exhibiting narcissistic traits that manifest in behaviours such as a) overreacting to criticism, b) regarding others as a means to an end, c) exaggerating of self-importance, d) having unrealistic fantasies about accomplishments, power and intelligence, e) harbouring unrealistic expectations of being privy to special treatment, f) getting jealous easily, g) lacking empathy, and h) exhibiting arrogant and proud behaviour. Eisner (2008) stated that this narcissistic approach is an attempt to strive for significance and belonging in an attempt to gain security.
Throughout Jobs‘ early life, particularly in the school context, one can observe how themes recur in formation of the final goal and lifestyle. Even when moved to a new schooling environment, which would cater better for his intellectual superiority, he was still confronted with the same inferiority issue – that of social ‗embeddedness‘ within the context of social interest. Jobs found himself to be the target of bullies in his new school and threatened to drop out of school. He then proceeded to convince his parents to move to Los
Altos, a different town in Silicon Valley, so that he could go to a new school. At the age of
11 years, Jobs had already demonstrated the wilfulness to convince his parents to resettle – his intensity and single mindedness that he could move any obstacles was already in place
(Young & Simon, 2005). Jobs‘ new school offered advanced classes but while he was intellectually stimulated, he did not fit in with any group. His parents enrolled him in the swimming team, where despite his ordinary swimming ability, his desire to win was so intense that the other boys would feel uncomfortable, resulting in Jobs running off to cry
(Sheen, 2010). Jobs did not mind being an outsider and regarded himself as a rebel. It is noteworthy that Jobs, while still not fitting into the social context, accepted this inferiority as part of his self- ideal. Instead of being a social outcast, Jobs now creatively saw himself as a
‗rebel‘, thus not someone who is not accepted within the social context but someone who is 110 superior to others within the social context and chooses to be an outsider. In early social relationships, Jobs continually demonstrated a determined fixation on winning and having his way – neither being attributes that encouraged relationships. The origins of how Jobs approached his ‗friendship‘ life task can be captured in his early relationship with Woz. At
13 years of age (as a junior in high school), Jobs met arguably one of the most influential people of his life time – 18 year old Stephen Wozniak (a college junior).
I remember Steve and I just sat on the sidewalk in front of Bill‘s house for the longest time just sharing stories—mostly about pranks we‘d pulled, and also what kind of electronic designs we‘d done. . . . Steve and I got close right away, even though he was still in high school. (Wozniak & Smith, 2006, p.88)
Jobs‘ preference to make a friend who is much older than he was, is a typical characteristic of not only an oldest child but also an only child. Besides the contribution that
Jobs birth order characteristics made to the establishment of this relationship, it should also be noted that Woz, like Jobs, was intelligent and creative. It stands to reason that Jobs‘ relationship with Woz was the first meaningful relationship he established with a peer and increased his social interest.
As a high school student, Jobs embraced the counterculture values of individuality, rebelliousness, and experimentation with the psychedelic drugs that thrived in the early
1970s. His appearance was that of a ‗hippie‘ - he had long hair, wore love beads, and often went barefoot. Contradictory to the hippie image, Jobs was also a nerd - passionate about electronics, interested in poetry and creative writing, and as intense as ever (Sheen, 2010).
Toward the end of his high school career Jobs started dating Chris-Ann Brennan, a young woman who shared Jobs‘ counterculture values and intellectual pursuits. The two became very close, and they would maintain an ‗off and on‘ relationship for years to come (Isaacson,
2011). While this first romantic relationship increased Jobs‘ social interest, it was also 111 marked by instability. Jobs‘ difficulty to trust others and his fear of rejection set a template for how Jobs would approach the ‗love‘ life task.
The integration of the child‘s personal goal with the child‘s concept of significance allows for the formulation of an integrated personality (Adler, 1988). According to Sweeney
(2009, p.14), ―The perceptions and recollections of one‘s first 6 to 8 years of life will reveal his or her psychological position, for it is during these years, Adler observed, that the lifestyle is formed‖. While the child‘s lifestyle is formed during years six – eight, it is within Jobs‘ high school career that one gains a clear picture of Jobs‘ self-ideal and goal formulation.
Jobs‘ self - ideal appears to be centred on not fitting in and feeling unwanted by others. Jobs had few friends and had difficulty relating to his peers. His intellectual curiosity can be regarded as a creative attempt to alleviate his intense feelings of inferiority. By mastering his external world Jobs did not have to face his internal inadequacy. Consistent with findings from Gray (2002), Jobs‘ masquerade of confidence was an attempt to hide feelings of loneliness and distrust.
Lost but not found. By the time Jobs completed high school he had been accepted by a number of prestigious universities including Stanford University. Jobs decided against enrolling at Stanford as ―everyone there knew what they wanted to do with their lives. And I didn‘t know what I wanted to do with my life at all‖ (Kaplan, 2000, p. 85). Jobs enrolled at
Reed College which was known for its alternative student population. Jobs‘ friend recalls:
He was always walking around barefoot. He was one of the freaks on the campus. The thing that struck me was his intensity. Whatever he was interested in he would generally carry to an irrational extreme. He wasn‘t a rapper [talker].One of his numbers was to stare at the person he was talking to. He would stare into their eyeballs, ask some question and would want a response without the other person averting their eyes. (Moritz, 1984, p. 85)
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When reflecting on the above account from Jobs‘ friend, two themes reoccur. Firstly, the continued presence of Jobs‘ feeling of being an outsider, and secondly, Jobs‘ intense and unrelenting pursuit of need fulfilment. Other people knew what they wanted and where they were headed – knowledge that eluded Jobs. His search for answers can be seen as an attempted striving towards overcoming his felt inferiority. However, the answers he wanted were not of an intellectual kind and thus were ellusive. Reed College was known for its alternative student population and while Jobs felt that he fitted in here more than what he would at another university, he was considered a ‗freak‘ or ‗different‘ even within this liberal context. While Jobs managed to expand his friendships beyond Woz, he was still a loner with only two friends.
Jobs‘ enrolment at Reed College was short lived but unlike the usual college dropouts,
Jobs did not leave campus and attended classes that he was interested in. Jobs regarded this time of his life a time where he learnt to fine tune his intuition by following his curiosity
(Sheen, 2010). In his Stanford commencement address (2005), Jobs recalled the following:
After six months I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned Coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. (Naughton, 2011, para.7)
During his college years, Jobs increasingly relied on his creative power to overcome his felt inferiority in an attempt to strive towards his final goal. In an environment that was less prescriptive than a schooling system, Jobs no longer had to compensate for felt inferiority by using his intellectual power but could direct his attention to strengthening his creative power. 113
Later in his life, Jobs would derive significant meaning from these events. Jobs spent his college years experimenting with different lifestyles in search of enlightenment and self- identity.
According to Adler (1982), each individual‘s lifestyle is based on his unique interpretation of a roadmap to success Lifestyle types are classified according to the individual‘s attitudes and behaviours towards life tasks and the degree of social interest and movement toward success (Adler, 1982). Ansbacher and Ansbacher (1956, p.133) defined social interest as ―the innate aptitude through which the individual becomes responsive to reality, which is primarily the social situation‖. According to Adler (1929, 1930, 1958), social interest is an inborn potential, but he emphasised that this potential requires conscious development. Adler (1929) explained that the individual‘s capacity for social interest can be regarded as a psychological trait which allows the individual to strive toward superiority and perfection. Social interest can also be regarded as a social feeling, fellow feeling, sense of solidarity, social sense and communal intuition (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).
In practice, social interest relates to the individual‘s awareness of being part of the human community; identification and sense of belonging to a social context; and an attitude to deal with the social world (Ansbacher, 1992). Dreikurs Ferguson (2003) was of opinion that an individual‘s goals are inherently and undeniably social. These goals symbolically represent the individual‘s relationship with other humans. Social interest can be regarded as the measuring stick against which the lifestyle may be measured to be either functional or dysfunctional (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956).
The degree to which Jobs experienced a real awareness of being part of the human community is debatable. Upon evaluation of Jobs‘ lived life one can clearly recognise that he did not feel a sense of belonging in his family or the broader community. While he most certainly had an inherent capacity for social interest according to the individual psychology 114 framework, the degree to which Jobs developed this capacity is questionable. If social interest can be regarded as Jobs‘ social feeling or feeling toward others, one can surmise that
Jobs‘ ability to sense and relate to others socially was limited. If Jobs‘ inferiority was supported by his feelings of isolation and not fitting in, it is likely to have been increasingly challenging for Jobs to establish high levels of social interest and remain within a position of power and superiority. Jobs displayed lower levels of social interest and was not particularly responsive to the social realities within which he found himself. It then stands to reason that
Jobs was likely to have experienced some difficulty in confronting life tasks as the individual‘s degree of social interest directs the lifestyle movement toward success.
Jobs displayed characteristics of two lifestyle types, namely the ruling type and the socially useful type. The ruling type is generally marked by a selfish striving for power and active efforts to fulfil goals. Such individuals often display antisocial and power-seeking behaviour but show limited social interest (Adler, 1958). Boeree (2006) explained that less active ruling types hurt others by inflicting pain on themselves through means of suicide and addiction. Active manifestation of the ruling type is observable as delinquency, tyranny and sadism (Adler, 1982). Adler (1985) noted that the socially useful individual shows high activity and high social interests. They are generally regarded as coping well with life tasks within a framework of social interest. The socially useful type noticeably struggles and strives for solutions to problems that are beneficial to the greater social context (Adler, 1982).
The notion that Jobs displayed characteristics of both the ruling lifestyle type and the socially helpful lifestyle type can be understood in the context of Jobs‘ self-ideal and first life experiences marked by an ambivalent need for social relatedness. It is for this reason that the researcher is of opinion that Jobs‘ chosen lifestyle cannot be confined to just one lifestyle type. It is essential to note that Adler (1958) viewed the individual from a holistic vantage point, emphasising that no singular aspect of the individual can be fully understood if 115 considered in isolation. The present researcher has therefore taken into consideration that
Jobs‘ self-ideal and social interest is intertwined with the lifestyle type decisions he made and cannot be viewed as separate constitutional attributes.
Jobs was not a low functioning individual within the context of the ruling type lifestyle and thus only presents with selective characteristics of this lifestyle. Jobs often displayed selfish striving for power and made active efforts to fulfil goals. This is a theme throughout his life – from convincing neighbourhood friends to get into trouble to convincing Woz to sell his inventions. He often displayed antisocial and power-seeking behaviour but showed limited social interest as evident in the manner which he treated employees, colleagues, friends and lovers. However, it is to be noted that he did not display active or passive characteristics of this lifestyle such as self-harm, suicide, addiction, delinquency, tyranny or sadism.
The nature of Jobs‘ social interest is complex and dynamic. While he had the inherent capacity for social connectedness, his first life experience of abandonment and rejection is likely to have impacted heavily on his willingness to trust others with his basic inferiority resulting in him preferring ‗one-up‘-situations where he could exert control over others. In contrast, his early childhood environments (home and school) supported the notion that he was superior – becoming socially more embedded when he displayed his intellectual creative power which in a circular fashion moved Jobs from inferiority to perceived superiority.
However, it appears that his continual search for answers can be related to the notion that his striving for superiority was not adequately fulfilled by means of gaining power over others.
It is this continual striving for social interest that illustrates Jobs‘ characteristics as being associated with the socially useful lifestyle type. If one considers Jobs‘ final goal or vision as an adult – that every individual should at least own one computer – it falls within the realm of benefitting the greater social context. This vision was socially useful and required high levels 116 of activity and creativity from Jobs to overcome obstacles. He coped well with the life tasks of work and spirituality while it appeared that he found the roles of self-determination, love and friendship more challenging. While the socially useful type noticeably struggles and strives for solutions to problems that are beneficial to the greater social context, the question becomes how Jobs managed these feats in spite of his limited amounts of social interest. Does the idea that Jobs‘ surface final goal was the vision of a technological and engineering revolution necessarily mean that it was his final goal or did his efforts to promote technological advancement merely serve as an attempt to externalise his internal striving towards power. As Jobs continued to drop in and drop out of classes, he dropped in and out of different lifestyle characteristics in the quest for a unified and consistent self-ideal and final goal.
Disillusioned enlightenment. The individual‘s lifestyle (unique set of convictions about the self, life, and others) provides the template to guide the individual towards achievement of basic life tasks; namely, work, friendship, love, self, and spirituality (Sweeney, 2009). An overview of the early working years of Jobs provides some insight into how his lifestyle goal translated to the lifestyle tasks of work, friendship and spirituality.
The way in which the individual approaches the life task of ‗work‘ is determined by the individual‘s lifestyle. Societal expectations dictate that children will grow to be responsible and cooperative adults who are able to effectively manage life situations. A lack of work success leads to discouragement (Sweeney, 2009). According to Dreikurs (1986) as cited in
Sweeney (2009, p.17) ―to face and fulfil one‘s life tasks requires courage to be imperfect, to make mistakes, to fail occasionally but to try again‖. After finally dropping out of college,
Jobs returned to his childhood home in California. He was subsequently hired as a video game designer at Atari – the type of work usually undertook by an engineer (Sheen, 2010). 117
Jobs was not qualified for the job but, as was his way, he convinced Atari‘s cofounder (Al
Acorn) to give him a job.
Jobs was dressed in rags, basically, hippie stuff. An eighteen-year-old drop-out of Reed College. I don‘t know why I hired him, except that he was determined to have the job and there was some spark. I really saw the spark in that man, some inner energy, an attitude that he was going to get it done. And he had a vision, too. You know the definition of a visionary is ―someone with an inner vision not supported by external facts,” he had those great ideas without much to back them up. Except that he believed in them. (Young & Simon, 2005, p.23)
From a young age, in the context of the environment in which Jobs found himself, he learned how to convince people to submit to his will and give him what he desired. Al Acorn
(Atari cofounder) was no different to the others (parents, teachers, friends) who Jobs creatively convinced to bend to his will. Al Acorn allowed Jobs the opportunity to fulfil a work role that would generally require the incumbent to be an engineer. This example illustrates how Jobs utilized his creative power to move beyond rules that would apply to others. Jobs‘ ‗spark‘ and ‗inner vision‘ can be equated to his creative power and final goal respectively. Jobs was driven to succeed. The notion that he may be imperfect, make mistakes or fail propelled him to succeed. His drive to succeed was intense and linked to his experienced inferiority. Failure at anything he undertook would be a reflection of his fragile self-ideal. Jobs could not fail – that would force him to acknowledge that the possibility exists that he is not special and lacking in some ways.
While Jobs did not have the technical skills to deliver some of the products Atari required, Woz did. Jobs harnessed Woz‘s technical ability thereby creatively compensating for his lack of ability. With the help of Woz, Jobs managed to creatively deal with challenges inherent to his work task and in so doing, experienced work success.
As is evident when Jobs‘ childhood is explored, Jobs continued having difficulty with interpersonal relationships. While his lack of social interest only affected the degree to which he experienced belonging in childhood, his lack of social interest now threatened to 118 undermine his attempts to move from inferiority to superiority by successfully dealing with the work task. Jobs‘ self-ideal as an outsider, rebel or misfit was yet again reinforced within the work task dimension. As was the case in his childhood, the environment was adapted to accommodate his low social interest – Jobs did not have to adapt to the environment. He was not popular with his colleagues as he frequently pointed out others‘ inadequacies and refused to wear deodorant due to his strict fruitarian diet and spiritual beliefs. Due to the highly competent work Jobs delivered, he was placed on night shift so that he could be kept on despite numerous complaints against him by fellow employees (Isaacson, 2011).
As was the case throughout his life, friendship and work tasks often intertwined.
While discouragement is not specific to any one life task, individuals generally have the means to manage the daily requirements of work but doubts and fears may reveal themselves only at times. According to Sweeney (2005, p.17), ―friendship and intimate love relationships tend to be more demanding of cooperation, give and take, and respect. If an individual has persistent difficulties in either or both of these life tasks, discouragement is present that probably can be noted in the other areas as well‖. An encounter between Jobs and Woz early in their professional career and friendship illustrates how Jobs‘ low level of social interest impacted on his friendship task. He failed to display the needed ‗give and take‘ as is required in the successful navigation of this task. Jobs promised to pay Woz half of the fee for assisting him in completing a task for Atari. Upon completion of the project,
Jobs short changed Woz – not honouring the original agreement. Jobs not only attempted to control the relationships he engaged in but also resorted to sabotaging relationships rather than being vulnerable and risking rejection – characteristics typical of the abandoned child.
Jobs‘ closest friend, Woz, recalled the following incident illustrating their friendship dynamic:
Later I found out he got paid a bit more for it—like a few hundred dollars—than he said at the time. . . . He wasn‘t honest with me, and I was hurt. But I didn‘t make a big 119
deal about it or anything . . . I still don‘t really understand why he would‘ve gotten paid one thing and told me he‘d gotten paid another. But you know people are different. And in no way do I regret the experience at Atari with Steve Jobs. He was my best friend and I still feel extremely linked with him . . . Anyway, in the long run of money—Steve and I ended up getting very comfortable money-wise from our work founding Apple just a few years later—it certainly didn‘t add up to much. (Wozniak & Smith, 2006, p.149)
The life task of spirituality is concerned with the individual‘s search to find a purpose and the meaning to life. Jobs continued to intensely and fervently pursue enlightenment through eastern philosophy, fruitarian diets, drug use and was a practicing Zen Buddhist until his death (Isaacson, 2011). While Jobs was no longer part of the liberal college scene, he still diligently searched for the road to enlightenment and the meaning of life. Jobs undertook a much anticipated trip to India, hoping to find some answers there and to spend time with his spiritual leader Neem Karoli Baba. Jobs left without the answers he was seeking and was disenchanted by the extreme poverty he saw there. He explained that ―It was one of the first times I started thinking that maybe Thomas Edison did a lot more to improve the world than guru Neem Karoli Baba‖ (Moritz, 1984, p. 111).
In spite of Jobs‘ success at work, his search for answers was unrelenting. While he attempted to prove his superiority by means of successful work task navigation, finding a purpose and meaning in life eluded him. When one considers how intensely Jobs committed himself to the spiritual life task, one cannot help but notice how desperate he appeared to alleviate his felt inferiority by anchoring his striving in a life purpose. Upon his return to the
United States, no more enlightened than when he left, Jobs spent his time at the All One Farm
- an Oregon commune located on land that a friend, Friedland, owned. It is here that Jobs devoted himself to working in the apple orchard and assisted the commune to establish a successful business selling woodstoves. Jobs had still not found what he was looking for – who he was and what his role in the world should be. It is important to note that Jobs resorted to using his creative power (intellect and business acumen) to propel him towards 120 finding a state of superiority and meaning. While Jobs found navigating the friendship task threatening, Woz‘s innovative contributions and ideas ironically appeared to be the catalyst in
Jobs‘ thriving toward success and fulfilment.
Reality distortion field. After years of relentless searching for his purpose in life, Jobs‘ vision became clear. His ultimate vision was for each person to own at least one personal computer – an absurd idea at the time. Jobs resolutely believed in his vision. He was convinced that if Apple could build fully assembled, easy to use computers the company would change the world (Isaacson, 2011). Jobs‘ search for spiritual connectedness and meaning left him disillusioned and he soon regained an interest in Woz‘s new activities.
Jobs‘ contribution to Woz‘s project allowed him to experience a sense of satisfaction more important that his attempts to gain enlightenment. Jobs had found where he belonged and what he was meant to do. His vision was to change the world, to overcome the seemingly impossible and to revolutionise the technology industry (Isaacson, 2011). By fulfilling this vision he would not only become relevant but would also make a significant impact upon the world.
In order to achieve his fictional goal of significance, Jobs pursued his work task with his characteristic intensity. On 1 April, 1976 Apple Computers was founded by Jobs and Woz from the garage of Jobs‘ parents. Jobs kept the location of their company private and hired an answering service and post box. He was concerned that their credibility and image would suffer if people knew the truth. From the origins of Apple Incorporated, Jobs regarded the company as an extension of himself. If he could only manage to achieve success within the work task he will necessarily be successful and not inferior. The company can be regarded as an externalisation of his internal self-ideal. Therefore, if the company is judged or its credibility is questioned, it will be a direct reflection on Jobs‘ adequacy and once again he will fall short of fulfilment. 121
Within the context of Apple, Jobs continued to display a lack of social interest. He was unresponsive to the social realities within his company in the unrelenting pursuit of perfection and success. As mentioned in the context of birth order and oldest child characteristics, Jobs learned to control people in order to make them bend to his will. This component of his personality structure is consistent and was evident throughout his life-span, in particular in the work task context. Since Apple was a reflection of his self-image, Jobs surrounded himself with the finest and most competent employees. While he attempted to create an environment to inspire them, he was often brash and outspoken and inconsiderate towards their feelings. This ambivalence amongst employees between when to expect public praise and lavish rewards (stock options, vacations, bonuses, research budgets) or harsh public criticism and humiliation made him nearly impossible to work for at times (Isaacson,
2011). The present researcher is of opinion that the ambivalence experienced by the Apple employees was not dissimilar to the internal ambivalence Jobs experienced between his need for social interest, his fear of rejection and the unrelenting drive to achieve perfection due to his felt inferiority.
During the early years of Apple, Jobs fathered a child, born from his long-time girlfriend
(Chris-Ann Brennan) with whom he had a turbulent relationship. Upon Lisa‘s birth, Jobs denied paternal responsibility. The relationship between Jobs and Brennan quickly deteriorated once Jobs learned of the pregnancy. While Jobs was comfortable with the notion of a possible abortion, he discouraged Chris-Ann to give the child up for adoption. Once the baby, Lisa, was born Chris-Ann and Lisa lived on welfare until Jobs was ordered by a court order to contribute child support. While Jobs contributed to Lisa‘s childhood on a financial level he did not exercise his visitation rights (Young & Simon, 2005). Jobs would later admit that he felt remorseful of his behaviour.
I wish I had handled it differently. I could not see myself as a father then, so I didn‘t face up to it. But when the test results showed she was my daughter, it‘s not true that I 122
doubted it. I agreed to support her until she was eighteen and give some money to Chris-Ann as well. I found a house in Palo Alto and fixed it up and let them live there rent-free. Her mother found her great schools which I paid for. I tried to do the right thing. But if I could do it over, I would do a better job. (Isaacson, 2011, p.91)
Jobs rejected his first born child in the same manner that he was rejected. It can be inferred that for the first time Jobs fully externalised his internal dynamics. At his core, Jobs felt invisible and unwanted. He withheld from Lisa what he desperately craved himself – acknowledgement and recognition from his birth parents, the knowledge that he was perfect enough and had nothing to prove. While he contributed to Lisa‘s life in a financial manner, he did not give of himself in the manner that would reflect social interest. Years later, after
Jobs had learned how to be more successfully socially embedded, he would realise that his contribution to Lisa‘s early life was lacking. While Lisa became more integrated into Jobs‘ life, their relationship was not without its challenges. As with his colleagues, Jobs would often vacillate between playfulness and cold aloofness. Their mutual stubborn wilfulness lead to intense fights after which they would spend months not talking to each other. Both
Lisa and Jobs found it exceptionally hard to reach-out, apologise and heal after arguments.
This pattern endured until Jobs‘ health became of concern.
During this time of turmoil in Jobs‘ private life, he moved out of the house he shared with
Brennan and into an old mansion in Los Gatos, California. Jobs‘ drive for perfection was evident in all areas of his life. He was so concerned with perfection that with the exception of a few cushions and a mattress on the floor of his bedroom, he never furnished the house or spend much time there as all his time was spent at Apple. As was his preferred way of moving from feelings of inferiority in the context of social interest, Jobs engaged in a new work challenge.
Jobs‘ next endeavour en route to superiority and fulfilment was the development of the
‗Lisa Computer‘. He realised this idea with the help of approximately forty scientists whom he housed in a building separate from that of the main Apple headquarters. This building 123 would fly a pirate flag with Jobs inadvertently giving the message that it was acceptable to break the rules if it meant getting results. Here Jobs vividly illustrated his belief that he functions beyond the constraints of the rules. Rules are mere guidelines and can be broken in an attempt to move to superiority and perfection.
Jobs would treat this elite work team of engineers to freshly squeezed orange juice every morning, meals, medals, cash bonuses and first class plane tickets. While he encouraged them to feel at home by installing a video arcade and piano in the lobby, Jobs was strict and demanding, as unrelenting with his employees as he was with regards to his own self- evaluation. Since his employees were essentially an extension of himself, nothing but perfection and success would suffice. He would stand over team members asking questions while making adjustments to their work. He would yell and criticise when something was not to his liking and would expect immediate changes to be made to his liking. In the same manner that Jobs found himself not measuring up to his own expectations, team members who were not living up to his expectations were fired (Sheen, 2010).
Jobs was convinced that the Apple Mac would change personal computing forever. Jobs succeeded in getting nothing but excellence and perfection from his employees by using well versed skills that the visionary had acquired and honed from a young age. In Jobs‘ eyes reality was a malleable concept to be constructed by competent and adequate individuals within the environment. Jobs did not take no for an answer, nothing was impossible and rules were there to be broken, not to limit success and deny fulfilment and superiority. Jobs‘ colleagues would later equate his persuasive ability to that of getting caught up in a ‗reality distortion field‘. Isaacson (2011, p.117) reported that a colleague stated, ―In his [Jobs] presence, reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything…It was dangerous to get caught up in Steve‘s distortion field, but it is what led him to actually be able to change reality‖. A Mac team member explained that: 124
Steve has the power of vision that is almost frightening. When he believes something, the power of that vision can literally sweep aside any objections, problems, whatever. They just cease to exist. The reason that Apple succeeded is that we really believed in what we are doing. The key thing was that we weren‘t in it for the money. We were out to change the world (Young & Simon, 2005, p.21).
In a twist of events and perhaps a cruel replay of Jobs‘ first life experiences of abandonment and rejection, he got fired from Apple when he refused to accept that his vision for Apple was not achievable. Jobs was cut-off from his primary means of exercising his creative power.
I was asked to move out of my office. They leased a little building across the street from most of the other Apple buildings. I nicknamed it Siberia. So I moved across the street, and I made sure that all of the executive staff had my home phone number . . . I wanted to be useful in any way I could . . . but none of them ever called. So I used to go to work. I‘d get there, and I would have one or two phone calls to perform, a little bit of mail to look at. But most of the corporate management reports stopped flowing by my desk. A few people might see my car in the parking lot and come over and commiserate. And I would get depressed and go home in two or three or four hours, really depressed. I did that a few times, and I decided that it was mentally unhealthy. So I just stopped going in. (Deutschman, 2000, p.46)
Jobs had built his self-ideal and fictional goal around achieving success and changing the world in order to relieve the inherent feeling of inferiority. When his means of externalising this felt inferiority by creatively striving for superiority was stripped away from him, he no longer had the means to deal with the unrelenting feelings of inadequacy and lack of purpose and meaning. It may be posed that Jobs became trapped in his own reality distortion field – so preoccupied with his striving toward his final goal that he became unresponsive to the social reality of Apple. Jobs‘ ever present feeling of being an outsider is recognisable during this period of his life. At a time when he was cut off from a life task that he highly valued, he was also sent to ‗Siberia‘ – a reminder that he did not fit in and was not part of the greater whole. Jobs was alone and had no contribution to make his company. It is only toward the end of his life that Jobs managed to see the value of this experience. 125
What’s NeXT? The next period in Jobs‘ life illustrates his creative resourcefulness employed to overcome perhaps one of his greatest life obstacles. In the Stanford
Commencement address that Jobs delivered in 2005, the learning and insight gained from this trying time emphasised not only how the individual develops within response to the environment but also that, regardless of constitutional attributes, the individual‘s capacity to choose a way in which to stride forward is of significant importance when one considers how people gain power and move toward a position of wellness.
Jobs realised that solely focusing on his work life task was no longer a healthy manner for him in which to move toward success. Once Jobs withdrew from Apple it would appear that he started to engage in other areas of his life tasks. It is as if he now realised that ‗failure‘ in any one life task is a very real possibility. This realisation gave way to the courage to further explore the life task of love.
Intimate love relationships require the most courage and faith in self and the other life tasks. Effective conflict management and decision making competencies are vital. In the context of relationships, the individual‘s weaknesses, fears and eccentricities will come under more severe examination than in other life situations. Values such as respect, appreciation, and caring for the other partner in the love relationship should be expressed or demonstrated in order to maintain and grow the relationship (Sweeney. 2009). When one considers the romantic relationships in which Jobs engaged with Brennan, Baez, Redse and Laurene, it becomes evident that Jobs had some difficulty in navigating the love life task. Love relationships required of Jobs to surrender his striving for power and a one-up position and to actively surrender to the expression of respect and cooperation. The expression of engagement in the relationship by means of social interest appeared to be a significant challenge for Jobs. It would appear as Jobs‘ inferiority feelings were amplified in the context of a relationship. Within the context of the love life task, his intense need to be deeply 126 connected to another was harshly contrasted by his fear of rejection and deficiency. Jobs‘ ex- girlfriend, Joan Baez, noted that Jobs would gift her computers, but not a dress that she could not afford. On the occasions that Jobs brought her flowers he made sure to inform her that they were merely left over from an office function. Joan Baez noted that ―he was both romantic and afraid to be romantic‖ (p.253). While Jobs and Joan Baez were not successful in their navigation of the love life task, they remained close friends for the duration of Jobs‘ life, illustrating how Jobs managed to find meaningful social interest in the friendship life task. Shortly after Jobs death Baez noted the contradiction that characterised Jobs:
He came by recently, and he was clearly close to the end, and we just sat out on the porch and looked out to the mountains. And then he emailed and said he'll be up in a month. I wrote back and said, 'Great, can I start nagging you about an iPhone?' He died a few months after that. Two days after his memorial, someone at Apple sent me an iPhone, which was very moving. Steve had a very sweet side, even if he was as... err... erratic as he was famous for being. But he gets genius licence for that, because he was somebody who changed the world. (Wenn, 2012, par.5)
In 1986, Jobs‘ mother, Clara, died of cancer. His mother‘s death had a significant impact on him – his only solace was his job and he returned his attention once again to finding an outlet for the likely inferiority, abandonment and rejection he experienced when his mother passed away. During this time Jobs publically accepted his first born daughter, Lisa, into his life. While Jobs regarded Paul and Clara as his parents, he set about attempting to find his birth mother. Jobs met his biological sister for the first time in 1985 – they became close friends (Simpson, 2011). Jobs never pursued a relationship with his biological father.
In 1989, Jobs met Laurene Powell during a lecture he gave at Stanford University. At the time she was a graduate student studying business administration. Jobs was instantly struck by not only her captivating beauty and intelligence but also by her dedication to a vegetarian life style. However, like all relationships Jobs engaged in, this relationship was affected by
Jobs‘ intensity and ambivalence (Linzmayer, 2004). A family friend of the couple noted that: 127
At times he and Powell would indulge in public displays of affection that were so intense they embarrassed everyone in their presence. Steve would fluctuate between intense focus, where she was the centre of the universe, to being coldly distant and focused on work. He had the power to focus like a laser beam, and when it came across you, you basked in the light of his attention. When it moved to another point of focus, it was very, very dark for you. It was very confusing to Laurene. (Isaacson, 2011, p.271)
Jobs married Laurene Powell in 1991 during a Buddhist ceremony. Adler (1958) eloquently pointed out that:
Love, with its fulfilment, marriage, is the most intimate devotion towards a partner of the other sex, expressed in physical attraction, in comradeship, and in the decision to have children. It can easily be shown that love and marriage are one side of cooperation – not a cooperation for the welfare of two persons only, but a cooperation also for the welfare. of mankind (p. 263)
Jobs‘ intense focus vacillated between being centred around achieving the love life task and the work life task. Laurene brought a grounding sense of stability and sensibility to Jobs‘ life, she engaged his sharp intellect and could endure the emotional complexities of their life together. Isaacson (2011, p.543) noted that
Jobs‘ relationship with his wife was sometimes complicated but always loyal. Savvy and compassionate, Laurene Powell was a stabilizing influence and an example of his ability to compensate for some of his selfish impulses by surrounding himself with strong-willed and sensible people. She weighed in quietly on business issues, firmly on family concerns, and fiercely on medical matters.
Their son, Reed (named after Reed College), was born soon after their wedding and followed by daughters Erin and Eve in 1995 and 1998 (Linzmayer, 2004). Steve Jobs became a traditional family man. The man who had built his self-ideal around the notion of being a misfit and outsider now expanded his social interest by having a family of his own.
He could often be seen in-line skating with Lisa, playing ball with Reed and pushing a stroller around their home town. When considering this dramatic change in his life, it suggests to the researcher that life meaning is to be found in the context of the individuals‘ expressed social interest and how the individual fits into a family constellation. This notion 128 places less of an emphasis on the striving toward superiority and power but rather emphasises the individual‘s need to be in a relationship with others.
Jobs‘ children externalised numerous characteristics of himself. As with romantic (love life task) and work life tasks, he would experience difficulty navigating these relationships in the context of expressing his social interest. According to Isaacson (2011, p.283), Reed was very similar to Jobs.
Reed turned out to be like his father in many ways: incisive and smart, with intense eyes and a mesmerizing charm. But unlike his father, he had sweet manners and a self-effacing grace. He was creative—as a kid he liked to dress in costume and stay in character—and also a great student, interested in science. He could replicate his father‘s stare, but he was demonstrably affectionate and seemed not to have an ounce of cruelty in his nature.
In a casual conversation with Walter Isaacson, Jobs‘ authorised biographer, Reed conveyed to Isaacson (2011, p.538), ―He told me, with an intensely earnest look, that his father was not a cold profit-seeking businessman but was motivated by a love of what he did and a pride in the products he was making.‖ Jobs‘ middle child, Erin Siena Jobs, was quieter than Reed and at times suffered from not getting much of Jobs‘ attention – Erin learned to keep her distance so as to not be so affected by Jobs‘ detachment. Isaacson (2011) reported that Erin was quiet, introspective and often struggled with handling Jobs and his cutting remarks. Upon requesting to speak to Walter Isaacson (2011), a 16 year old Erin indicated that she understood how Jobs‘ work demands impacted on the family. ―He does his best to be both a father and the CEO of Apple, and he juggles those pretty well. Sometimes I wish I had more of his attention, but I know the work he‘s doing is very important and I think it‘s really cool, so I‘m fine. I don‘t really need more attention‖ (p.541). Jobs‘ relationship with
Erin emphasised to the researcher the difficulty Jobs had in expressing social embeddendness. What reflections of himself did he witness in Erin that he did not wish to 129 identify with as it intensified his own inferiority feelings? Did Erin present the internal difficulty Jobs had with connecting with others while being wary of rejection?
The youngest Jobs child, Eve, was born in 1998. Jobs would state that he saw himself reflected in her and described her as:
A pistol and has the strongest will of any kid I‘ve ever met. It‘s like payback. Eve is more sensitive than a lot of people think. She‘s so smart that she can roll over people a bit, so that means she can alienate people, and she finds herself alone. She‘s in the process of learning how to be who she is, but tempers it around the edges so that she can have the friends that she needs. (Isaacson, 2011, p.543)
While Jobs developed a strong bond with Reed, he often had difficulty connecting with his daughters. As was typical of Jobs‘ relational style, he would rapidly shift between focusing on his daughters and ignoring them. Laurene disclosed to Isaacson (2011, p.544) that ―He focuses on his work, and at times he has not been there for the girls‖.
Jobs‘ had resigned from Apple in September 1985, selling all but one of his Apple shares in order to fund NeXT computers. Jobs took with him five members of his Mac team, and as per his usual strategy, he hired the most gifted engineers he could find. Jobs, as demanding as ever, insisted on perfection. During this time Jobs also acquired Pixar studios. While
Jobs‘ personal life seemed to finally be thriving, Pixar and NeXT were on the brink of financial disaster. Highlighting his creative capacity to overcome life obstacles, Jobs dramatically restructured both companies.
In the decade that Jobs‘ had been gone from Apple, the company had lost money and its reputation as an unconventional and cutting edge company. Apple‘s image was synonymous with Jobs‘ identity. Apple Computers lacked the attention to detail and creative design that secured it a market share a decade earlier. Apple had rejected Jobs years earlier and had now lost the creativity to deal with life obstacles. While Jobs did not typically display high levels of social interest in the context of his work task, it would appear that his socially useful lifestyle type allowed for increased social interest within the greater community and Apple 130 target market. Apple‘s (Jobs‘) image of being an outcast and misfit was responsive to the social context at this time. While Jobs was successful in his work task outside of Apple, he secretly wanted to go back to his home: Apple. Jobs drove a hard deal which resulted in
Apple buying NeXT from Jobs in addition to giving him 1.5 million shares in Apple. Jobs returned to Apple as an informal adviser in December 1996.
Return of the prodigal son. Upon his return to Apple, Jobs realised that Apple was in a state of disarray. In July of 1997 Apple‘s board offered Jobs the CEO position and an exorbitant salary– he declined both the position and salary and stayed on as interim CEO.
Jobs seldom accepted a salary from his companies. As he explained:
I was worth about over a million dollars when I was twenty-three and over ten million dollars when I was twenty-four, and over a hundred million dollars when I was twenty- five and it wasn‘t that important because I never did it for the money. (Sheen, 2010, p.85)
The above statement by Jobs illustrated how his companies were a mere extension of himself – providing him a platform to challenge his inferiority feelings. He was not engaged in these ambitious pursuits for the financial gain but to prove to the world and ultimately to himself that he was adequate, wanted and significant. He did not quit or acknowledge defeat, but strove toward perfection. He was going to be so special and significant that he would change the world.
Drawing on his inner vision for what he needed Apple to be, he employed aggressive turnaround strategies to rescue the company. These strategies were not only focused on restructuring the work tasks of Apple employees but also had an element of increasing social interest – at both employee and community levels. Previously unheard of, Jobs would meet with each and every Apple employee. Through these exchanges with employees Jobs identified who could add value to the company and who were simply dead weight and should be fired. As explained by an Apple employee: ―Steve tests you, challenges you, frightens you. He uses this tactic to get the truth...it‘s his way of asking: ‗Do you believe in what you 131 are saying?‘ If you wither or blather, you‘re lost.‖ (Deutschman,2000, p.291). Jobs worked directly with the hundreds of staff he retained. Nothing (not even buying stationary) happened without his consent or knowledge. Jobs fully regained control of Apple (Sheen,
2010).
The final step of this turn-around strategy was to launch an aggressive advertising campaign in order to regain Apple‘s image of a renegade and cutting-edge company -an image that was synonymous with Jobs. The phrase ‗Think Different‘ would be the trademark of the advertising campaign. This phrase would be printed above images of innovative thinkers like Albert Einstein, John Lennon and Mahatma Gandhi to name a few. Jobs intention was to remind not only consumers but Apple employees what they were striving for
(Isaacson, 2011). By utilizing his creative power, Jobs in essence created a platform for misfits to experience shared social interest by identifying with Apple‘s renegade interest.
The ‗Think Different‘ campaign appears closely intertwined with Jobs‘ own identity and final goal of changing the world. He was different; people challenged his ideas like they did that of Gandhi, Lennon and Einstein years before. It is suggested by the researcher that Jobs was of the opinion that the critics were wrong – about them and about him.
Jobs‘ return to Apple marks a key point in his life. Apple was the one place that Jobs truly felt connected and where he experienced a sense of belonging. The return to Apple can be likened to a homecoming – returning to the place where he fits in, where he is not driven by his intense conflicting desire for social interest and the fear of social interest.
Connecting the dots backwards. Sections 6.2.1- 6.2.7 elaborated on Jobs‘ life experiences through the lens of individual psychology by providing a description of his final fictional goal, social interest, lifestyle and life tasks. Upon consideration of the lived life of
Steven Paul Jobs, the researcher noted his capacity to cope with life‘s setbacks. While an
Adlerian approach to individual development explained this capacity in terms of his creative 132 striving to overcome feelings of inferiority in an attempt to achieve his final goal, the researcher is of the opinion that these constitutional strengths required further exploration.
The commencement address that Jobs delivered at Stanford University in 2005 clearly illustrates his striving toward salutogenesis and will serve as a template against which
Antonovsky‘s (1987) Sense of Coherence will be applied in an attempt by the researcher to generate meaning out of Jobs‘ lived life.
Antonovsky (1987) was of opinion that as long as humans are alive, they find themselves in part healthy and in part sick – thus all individuals are on the health/sickness (breakdown) continuum. Health is thus not simply a dependent wellness variable but it is associated with wellbeing in other areas of life. During the course of Antonovsky‘s (1923 – 1994) work, he became concerned with understanding how individuals stayed healthy and identifying which moderating factors (resources) played a role in the protective processes of individuals.
The salutogenic paradigm focuses on the resources and strategies that individuals possess that restore order and enable successful coping with potentially pathogenic factors encountered in the process of living (Korotkov, 1998). Salutogenesis is holistically concerned with all aspects of an individual‘s existence and seeks to promote the factors that move individuals toward the ‗health ease‘ pole of the continuum. Negative emotions and stress are not neglected but viewed as opportunities to be integrated in a grounded and balanced manner.
In addition to the above understanding of salutogenesis, Antonovsky (1987) identified
‗general resistance resources‘ (GRR‘s). These GRR‘s are seen as characteristics that the individual (such as intelligence, ego-identity), group (such as social support) or society (such as the political system, history) possesses that translate into the manner in which individuals deal with stress and challenges, defining their position on the health ease/ disease continuum 133
(Vossler, 2012). The availability of and experiences with utilizing GRR‘s over time lead to the degree to which individuals experience a ‗sense of coherence‘ (Antonovsky, 1987).
Antonovsky (1979) motivated that the origins of health are to be found in a sense of coherence (SOC). SOC comprises of three components (comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness) and is defined as follows:
The sense of coherence is a global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that (1) stimuli deriving from one‘s internal and external environments in the course of living are structured, predictable, and explicable; (2) the resources are available to one to meet the demands posted by these stimuli; and (3) these demands are challenges, worthy of investment and engagement. (Antonovsky, 1987, p. 19)
According to Vossler (2012), the SOC concepts of ‗comprehensibility‘, ‗manageability‘ and ‗meaningfulness‘ are interrelated. While ‗meaningfulness‘ is considered to be the most important, comprehending a situation and feeling able to cope does not result in overcoming the challenge if there is an absence of engagement motivation. Antonovsky (1987) emphasised that people with a strong SOC are generally in a more advantageous position to utilize GRR‘s in order to respond to stress, while Vossler (2012) suggested that SOC is not a single function of coping but rather an appraisal of stressful situations allowing the individual to choose appropriate ways of dealing with stress.
An individual‘s SOC strength can be regarded as a critical element in the structure of personality. This personality structure facilitates the coping and adaption process
(Antonovsky, 1979, 1987) and therefore Antonovsky‘s SOC theory relates to the adaptive capacity of human beings (Griffiths, Ryan & Foster, 2010). Kortokov (1998) pointed out that
Antonovsky‘s SOC emphasised that the availability of individual choice making experiences strengthens the individual‘s SOC, enabling the individual to adapt and cope when facing life stressors. 134
Jobs‘ commencement address was grounded in three themes – connecting the dots, love and loss, and mortality. These themes emerged from his lived experience and were regarded by him as his most significant learning experiences. It is noteworthy that none of these life lessons were focussed around his power and superiority but rather commented on his felt inferiority and failings. These themes highlighted his creative power and ability to overcome life obstacles within the lifestyle tasks despite environmental influences and social interest.
These life experiences also illustrate the extent to which Jobs experienced a sense of coherence and was able to derive comprehensibility, manageability and meaning from these experiences. Upon reflection of the fact that Jobs was a college graduate, he noted the following:
I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. Much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on…Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country…Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this…None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. (Naughton, 2011, para. 8)
The above excerpt from his commencement address illustrates not only the Adlerian concept of striving toward a final goal by utilizing creativity in response to environmental stimuli but also illustrates Jobs‘ SOC. Completing education is relevant to the work life task.
Although failure within this area is likely to lead to discouragement, the individual has the 135 choice to deal with these challenges in a functional manner (Sweeney, 2009). To understand how Jobs dealt with this specific challenge of dropping out of college one can consider the available GRR. Jobs‘ GRR in this scenario are most identifiable as individual resources and can be understood in the context of Jobs‘ feeling that the situation was manageable and that he had the resources to exert his decision making capacity in response to the environment.
These resources include his curiosity to pursue the unknown, his creative and intellectual power and, paradoxically, his discontent with the environment in which he found himself.
It is unlikely that Jobs experienced a SOC before he ‗dropped out‘ of college as he did not have a sense that this experience was going to be meaningful. Meaningfulness is considered to be the most important component of SOC (Vossler, 2012). Jobs‘ ability to comprehend the situation and feeling able to cope did not result in him overcoming the challenge because there was an absence of engagement motivation. By ‗dropping out‘ on what was not a worthy investment, Jobs could ‗drop in‘ on those classes he regarded as a worthy investment and attempt to cope with the situation.
Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. (Naughton, 2011, para. 9)
Jobs‘ sense of meaning with regards to the ‗dropping out‘ experience is captured within the reflection above. This personal reflection emphasises Jobs‘ trust in following his creativity in order to overcome the life task en route to the final goal. In addition this statement highlights
Jobs‘ successful navigation of the spiritual life tasks – trusting that he has the resources and capability to cope with life challenges and that the challenge will be resolved in a manner that contributes to his life in a meaningful way. 136
Jobs‘ Stanford commencement address illustrated clearly how his life was centralised around the work life task.
Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20…in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2bn company with over 4,000 employees…And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? …So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating…I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. (Naughton, 2011, para.13)
Set-backs within the area of work were experienced as significant. Jobs had built his self- ideal and fictional goal around achieving success and changing the world in order to relieve the inherent feeling of inferiority. Apple provided him with the environment and resources in which to strive toward power. When his means of externalising this felt inferiority by creatively striving for superiority was stripped away from him, he no longer had a means to deal with the unrelenting feelings of inadequacy and lacked a sense of purpose.
Jobs was able to access his general resistance resources in order to successfully navigate this setback even though this setback touched him at his most basic feeling of inferiority not just with regards to the evaluation of his own self – ideal but also in term of his social interest. Not only did he mange to navigate through this setback, but he did so in a salutogenic manner. Jobs‘ SOC equipped him with the capacity to gain insight into the manageability and meaning of this life challenge. Jobs‘ level of comprehensibility and meaningfulness is evident when one considers his appraisal of the aftermath of getting fired from Apple. While an individual on the disease end of the wellness continuum would likely have been overcome by this life obstacle, Jobs managed to effectively appraise the situation and choose appropriate ways to deal with this stress. This stress can be understood in the context of felt inferiority. Jobs actively engaged with his creative power to move toward superiority.
But something slowly began to dawn on me – I still loved what I did...I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over. I didn't see it then, but 137
it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together. (Naughton, 2011, para.15)
Jobs recognised that coping with this life challenge in pursuit of his fictional goals would be a worthy investment of his engagement. He realised that fundamentally, when all the embellishments are stripped away, he loved his job. He had the courage and determination to strive from within a position of inferiority and start up new business ventures (Pixar and
NeXT) which allowed an environment in which he could exercise his creative power. His engagement in this process of coping allowed him to derive significant meaning from this experience.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle. (Naughton, 2011, para.17)
Even though the situation was challenging, Jobs possessed the individual and group resources to deal with the situation in a positive manner. His creativity, passion and vision enabled him to navigate the road to his fictional goal. While the pursuit of his fictional goal and answers to his life purpose and meaning were not without challenges, Jobs noted that the only way to find fulfilment was to pursue the fictional goal until it is exactly what one desires. This relevant experience allowed Jobs to engage with his social interests and 138 lifestyle in a successful attempt to cope with life stress. The successful integration of this experience in combination with the SOC that Jobs seemingly exhibited prepared him for future challenges. It can be inferred that by dealing with stressful life events Jobs enhanced his GRR.
In his commencement speech, Jobs alluded to the creativity of his general resistance resources. Jobs was not scared of death – he welcomed it, at least on an intellectual level.
Once again, this illustrated how Jobs‘ search for purpose and meaning was a central focus of his strive toward the final goal.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. (Naughton, 2011, para.18)
Just when it seemed like Jobs was functioning well within the life tasks of work, family and friendship, he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 49. Jobs recounts:
I was diagnosed with cancer…The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months…This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful, but purely intellectual, concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. (Naughton, 2011, p.20)
As one considers the above reflections, one catches a glimpse of how single mindedly
Jobs pursued his final goal. It would appear as if external expectations as well as his own 139 pride, fear and embarrassment of failure were significant driving forces in his younger life.
However, as Jobs‘ capacity for coherence developed and GRR increased he found a sense of meaning and engaged in coping with these severe challenges. Jobs concluded the commencement address with what the present researcher believes not only symbolically reflects Jobs‘ SOC but also his final goal.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And, most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. (Naughton, 2011, para.25)
Not only was a SOC experienced during the events that Jobs referred to during the
Stanford commencement address (2005) but Jobs also found a lasting SOC in the context of his life.
One thing that came out most clearly from this whole experience,‖ he explains. ―I realized that I love my life. I really do. I‘ve got the greatest family in the world and I‘ve got my work. And that‘s pretty much all I do. I don‘t socialize much or go to conferences. I love my family, and I love running Apple and I love Pixar. And I get to do that. I‘m very lucky. (Burrows, 2004)
Regardless of his feelings of inferiority, levels of social interest, constitutional attributes and life tasks, Jobs had the ability to successfully navigate through life‘s obstacles. His stubborn wilfulness and comprehensibility, his belief in his own manageability allowed for meaningful engagement – not only in his own life but within the context of wider social interest.
Jobs‘ health steadily declined over the following five years, resulting in a liver transplant in April 2009 (Isaacson, 2011). Jobs announced his resignation as Apple‘s Chief Executive
Officer in August of 2011 stating that ―I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple‘s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come." Jobs continued to work for Apple until the day before his death, six weeks later on 5 October, 2011 (Biddle, 2011). 140
Upon considering Jobs‘ feelings of inferiority and the manner in which he sought to compensate for his felt inferiority the researcher is left with numerous questions. When one considers Jobs‘ ambivalence and contradictory nature such questions are to be expected. Was
Jobs‘ desire to feel superior more powerful than his need for social connectedness? When
Jobs had to choose between serving his own needs or that of others what would he choose?
The researcher is not of opinion that Jobs did not have the ability to express social interest in the manner that would necessarily reflect an inferiority complex, however, there is little doubt as to the intense inferiority feelings Jobs experienced which propelled him toward success. Jobs placement on the wellness continuum and his functioning from an Adlerian perspective may be open to varying interpretations. However, that he successfully navigated his life challenges can be measured not only against his own report of finding meaning but against the lasting impact his vision had on the greater social context. The meaning Jobs attributed to his life experience as depicted in the greater context of his life reflects Jobs‘ perception of his own wellness perhaps more so than what the academic interpretation of a lived life can capture.
Conclusion
This chapter provided an overview of the life of Steven Paul Jobs by illuminating events of his lived life. An overview of his childhood, schooling, career and relationships was provided while attempting to capture glimpses of the person behind these experiences. He was a digital renegade and a dissident role model for many. Laurene Jobs, who wanted to ensure that Jobs‘ biographer, Isaacson, fully capture the complexities of Jobs‘ being emphasised the following in a conversation with Isaacson (2011, p.544):
Like many great men whose gifts are extraordinary, he‘s not extraordinary in every realm. He doesn‘t have social graces, such as putting himself in other people‘s shoes, but he cares deeply about empowering humankind, the advancement of humankind, and putting the right tools in their hands. 141
This chapter provided an account Jobs‘ creative power as evident in his striving towards a position of superiority. In addition Jobs‘ sense of coherence as a function of salutogenesis was explored. Chapter 7 will address the conclusions, recommendations and limitations relevant to the present study.
142
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Chapter Overview
This final chapter provides a summary of the research findings and the limitations inherent to the present psychobiographical research study. In addition, a discussion regarding the value of psychobiographical research as well as the recommendations for future research is presented. This study will be completed by the noting of final conclusions.
The Aims of the Study Revisited
The primary aim of the present study was to explore and describe the life of Steven Paul
Jobs. His psychosocial development, in the context of his lived live, was explored from the theoretical perspectives of Alfred Adler‘s theory of Individual Psychology (1929) and Aaron
Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987). This provided a clear yet broad picture of this significant figure and modern day icon in the world of technology. The aim of the proposed study was not to generalise the findings to a larger population, but instead to generalise the findings of the research to the selected theoretical approaches.
Summary of the Research Findings
Adlerian Individual Psychology (1929) places an emphasis on social context, interpersonal relationships and subjective experience with a strong focus on the future, holism and the individual‘s choice-making capacity (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Individual psychology is underpinned by the notion that every individual strives toward this ultimate goal (Adler,
1988). A goal or self-ideal which is unique to the individual, directs the individual‘s striving from inferiority to superiority. This striving towards a goal or self-ideal is in part influenced by biological and environmental factors but is in essence of the individual‘s own creation, thus resulting in a fictional goal or self-ideal. 143
While Jobs excelled within the areas of creative imagination and mastery of cognitive skills, he experienced difficulty in relating to his peers throughout his lifespan. Jobs displayed characteristics of two lifestyle types – the ruling type and the socially useful type.
The notion that Jobs displayed characteristics of both the ruling lifestyle type and the socially helpful lifestyle type can be understood in the context of Jobs‘ self-ideal and first life experiences marked by the ambivalent need for social relatedness. It is for this reason that the researcher is of opinion Jobs‘ chosen lifestyle cannot be confined to just one lifestyle type. It is essential to note that Adler (1958) viewed the individual from a holistic vantage point, emphasising that no singular aspect of the individual can be fully understood if considered in isolation. The researcher has therefore taken into consideration the fusion of personality or self-ideal and social interest in the context of a lifestyle type.
The nature of Jobs‘ social interest is complex and dynamic. While he had the inherent capacity for social connectedness his first life experience of abandonment and rejection is likely to have impacted heavily on his willingness to trust others with his basic inferiority resulting in Jobs preferring ‗one-up‘-situations where he could exert control over others. In contrast his early childhood environments (home and school) supported the notion that he was superior – becoming socially more imbedded when he displayed his intellectual creative power which in a circular fashion moved Jobs from inferiority to perceived superiority.
However, it stands to reason that his continual search for answers can be related to the notion that his striving for superiority was not adequately fulfilled by means of gaining power over others. Sections 6.2.1- 6.2.7 elaborated on Jobs‘ life experiences through the lens of individual psychology by providing a description of his final fictional goal, social interest, lifestyle and life tasks. Upon consideration of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs, the researcher noted his capacity to cope with life‘s setbacks. While an Adlerian approach to individual development explained this capacity in terms of his creative striving to overcome 144 feelings of inferiority in an attempt to achieve his final goal, the researcher is of opinion that these constitutional strengths required further exploration. The commencement address that
Jobs delivered at Stanford University in 2005 best illustrated his strive toward salutogenesis and served as a template against which Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence was applied in an attempt by the researcher to generate meaning out of Jobs‘ lived life.
Jobs‘ commencement addressed was grounded in three themes – connecting the dots, love and loss, and mortality. These themes emerged from his lived experience and were regarded by him as his most significant learning. It is noteworthy that none of these lessons were focussed around his power and superiority but rather reflected upon his felt inferiority and failings. But, significantly, these themes illustrated his creative power and ability to overcome life obstacles within the lifestyle tasks in spite of environmental influences and social interest. These experiences also illustrate the extent to which Jobs experienced a sense of coherence and was able to derive comprehensibility, manageability and meaning from these experiences.
Jobs‘ sense of coherence equipped him with the capacity to gain insight into the manageability and meaning of this life challenge. Jobs‘ level of comprehensibility and meaningfulness is evident when one considers his appraisal of his most challenging life obstacles. While an individual on the disease end of the wellness continuum would likely have been overcome by these life obstacles, Jobs managed to effectively appraise the situations and choose appropriate ways of managing this stress. Such stress can be understood in the context of felt inferiority. As was Jobs‘ nature, he actively engaged with his creative power to move toward superiority. Regardless of his feelings of inferiority, levels of social interest, constitutional attributes and life tasks, Jobs had the ability to successfully navigate through life‘s obstacles by creatively engaging his choice making capacity in the striving toward his fictional goal. Jobs‘ stubborn wilfulness and 145 comprehensibility, his belief in his own manageability allowed for meaningful engagement in the overcoming of obstacles – not only in his own life but within the context of wider social interest. Jobs‘ placement on the wellness continuum and his functioning from an Adlerian perspective may be open to varying interpretations. However, that he in fact successfully navigated his life challenges can be measured not only against his own report of finding meaning but against the lasting impact his vision had on the greater social context.
These research findings have therapeutic as well as relational implications. By engaging the individual‘s creative power the therapist can assist the individual with a faulty lifestyle to overcome life obstacles. By utilizing the therapeutic relationship as a model for establishing greater social interest, the individual can be encouraged to generalise the therapeutic social being to a broader social context. It can be inferred that the individual‘s striving from a position of basic felt inferiority toward their final goal and reduced inferiority can be equated to the individual‘s inherent striving toward self-actualisation. The challenge in a therapeutic context would thus be to increase the individual‘s awareness of both the need for social connectedness and creative power that has allowed him to function with some success in the past. By increasing the individual‘s desire for social interest and awareness of creative power, the individual‘s SOC will be dynamically impacted as the individual re-evaluates their sense of manageability, comprehensibility and meaningfulness.
Possible Limitations Related to the Psychobiographical Research Method
The limitations that the present researcher encountered in employing the psychobiographical research method included analysing an absent subject, researcher bias, reconstruction, reductionism, pathography, cross-cultural differences, elite and easy genre and inflated expectations. Anderson (1981) noted that such limitations are common to the psychobiographical research method. Preliminary considerations regarding the limitations of 146 utilising the psychobiographical research method were discussed in Chapter 5. The researcher‘s attempts to compensate for these limitations will now be briefly overviewed.
Analysing an absent subject: Psychobiographical studies are often criticised for being open to numerous explanations due to the absence of the subject and lack of data (Runyan,
1982). However, psychobiographers are able to utilize various sources of information, allowing analysis in terms of their ultimate effects (Anderson, 1981). In the present study, the utilisation of a variety of different sources of data allowed the researcher to gather data which provided different, diverse perspectives and ultimately lead to a rich and full picture of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs. Sources of data that were utilized in the present study included authorised biographies, interviews, speeches and news articles. In addition, the researcher utilized a timeline (Appendix C) depicting not only Jobs‘ life but also the cultural- historical context.
Researcher bias: Long term in depth study into an individual‘s life may cause the researcher to experience a personal and/or subjective reaction toward the subject of the study.
Anderson (1981) cautions that a risk exists that the researcher may tend either toward idealising or degrading the subject. The researcher addressed this issue through conscientious consultation with her research supervisor. In addition to supervisor consultation, the researcher engaged in research triangulation whereby she consulted with other psychobiographical researchers for objective commentary on her relationship with her chosen subject (Anderson, 1981). Finally, the researcher kept a research journal which allowed her to remain cognizant of subjective, biased responses toward the psychobiography subject.
Reconstruction: Reconstruction occurs as a result of the inversion of psychological facts, allowing the psychobiographer to make inferences for which no direct evidence exists. This is likely to occur in the absence of verifiable data about the subject‘s childhood history 147
(Schultz, 2005). In a conscious attempt to avoid the phenomena of reconstruction, the researcher focused on interpreting facts, not inferred facts as verified by the numerous interviews, speeches, authorised biographies and articles written about the life of the research subject, Steven Paul Jobs.
Reductionism: Anderson (1981) states that psychobiographies tend to be criticised for being reductionistic in approach. According to Runyan (1984) psychobiographies run the risk of emphasising psychological factors at the expense of social and historical factors; of focusing on psychopathological processes at the expense of normal and creative processes; and of explaining adult behaviour excessively in terms of childhood experiences. This study attempted to avoid or minimise reductionism by utilising multiple sources of data and maintained continued awareness of the subject within his social and historical context, regardless of the developmental life period as suggested by Runyan (1988).This conscious precaution allowed the researcher to maintain appreciation of the complexity of the holistic subject (Fouché & Van Niekerk, 2005a).
Pathography: Pathography is defined as a form of reductionism that minimizes the complexity of a holistic personality to static psychopathological categories and symptoms
(Shultz, 2005). Fouché and Van Niekerk (2005a) indicate that the focus of the psychobiographer should primarily aim at understanding how the subject became and remained relatively psychologically well-functioning. The researcher aimed to avoid pathologising the subject by avoiding the excessive use of pathology jargon and using a more health-orientated theoretical approach such as Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence
(1987) in addition to Adler‘s Individual Psychology (1929) theory in analysing the subject as suggested by Elms (1994).
Cross-cultural differences: Psychobiographical studies can be considered cross-cultural studies as the culture and period of the subject would differ from the researcher‘s present day 148 culture (Anderson, 1981). Runyan (1982) emphasised that it is fundamentally important to integrate the research subject‘s psychological characteristics with the multitude of contexts within which the person lived. The researcher actively undertook consideration of cross- cultural factors that pertained to the subject, including the subject‘s religious/spiritual, historical, cultural, moral, economic, social and political background. A timeline (Appendix
C), which provided a snapshot of the subject in time, was employed to illustrate the subject‘s context in consideration of the relevant cross-cultural factors. In addition, the researcher consulted a variety of primary and secondary sources of data as suggested by Berg (1995).
Inflated expectations: Throughout the proposed study the researcher remained cognizant that the psychological explanations gained from the psychobiographical study will add information to an existing body of knowledge. Such psychological explanations were thus not conveyed as absolute assertions by the researcher as suggested by Voster (2003). These psychological explanations and interpretations made by the biographer can be described as being speculative rather than absolute (Anderson, 1981).
Elite and easy genre: Runyan (1988) notes that psychobiographies have been criticised for being elitist and an easy genre. Elitist psychobiographies are perceived to only focus on prominent and privileged people while ignoring the lived lives and contributions made by ordinary individuals. The mere interest in the experience of ‗non-elitist‘ or ordinary individuals is not an adequate reason for selecting a research subject as value is to be found in the analysis of both elitist and ordinary individuals. Steven Paul Jobs was selected because of his significance as an inventor, entrepreneur and visionary. He was also selected for the unique and significant life that he lived (Yin, 2003). This psychobiography sought to add to existing theory and knowledge, included extensive research into the subject‘s socio-historical context (Appendix C) and culminated in the description of the complex process of personality development. Taking all the above mentioned considerations into account and noting the 149 extensive work required of psychobiographical research, a criticism of easy genre is unwarranted.
While the theoretical frameworks utilized in the description of the development of Jobs‘ constitutional attributes allowed for a holistic view of the research subject, limitations to the theoretical frameworks are to be noted (as addressed in Chapter 3, sections 3.2. 9 and 3.3.3.).
Limitations worth noting include the notion by authors such as Boeree (2006) and Corey
(2005) who questioned the empirical value of Adler’s theory as it based on relatively vague, unscientific concepts. Christopher and Bickhard (1992) noted that Adler‘s theory lacked explanation of how the child becomes able to choose a lifestyle and how this choice persists throughout the lifespan. By focusing on the individual as a holistic being, the researcher aimed to not over-emphasise any one specific component of the theoretical frameworks.
Moreover, the integration of Adler and Antonovsky‘s theories allowed for less ‗vague‘ interpretation of the Jobs‘ lived life.
The Value of the Research
The theoretical frameworks. Both Adler‘s Individual Psychology (1929) and Aaron
Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987) theories were applied in this research as a means of providing a framework in which to describe and explore the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs
(1955 – 2011). Adler‘s Individual Psychology provided a holistic organising framework in which to describe the various factors relevant to an individual‘s functioning. In addition to
Adler‘s positive approach to human growth, Antonovsky‘s salutogenic theory was utilized with a specific focus on Jobs‘ sense of coherence. By utilizing both the wellness theory of
Adler and Antonovsky the researcher explored not only how an individual‘s capacity to exercise choice when faced with life challenges impacts on development but also how the individual creates a sense of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness from stressful life events. By utilizing theoretical frameworks orientated toward holistic human 150 wellness the reliability of the study was enhanced, reducing the pathological focus that is common in psychobiograpical research.
The psychobiographical subject. The selection of Steven Paul Jobs as a psychobiographical research subject was valuable. Jobs‘ unique context (environment and constitutional attributes) was valuable in light of the theoretical frameworks in which the present study is grounded as it illustrated an individual‘s self-determination and capacity to exercise choice in response to life challenges. In addition, the study of the research subject illustrated how the individual can forge his own life path by utilizing his creative power to overcome challenges emphasising that one is not necessarily a passive bystander to one‘s life events but driven by an internal forward striving.
Psychobiographical case research. This study has offered the first psychological explanation of Steven Paul Jobs by means of psycobiographical case research. As Jobs‘ lived life was evaluated in the context of the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler (1929) and
Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence (1987), his holistic development was considered in addition to his ability to cope with life‘s obstacles. According to Fouché (1999), research that utilizes an explicitly psychologically-based discussion allows for the creation of a new vantage point to be taken in light of the individual‘s development. Thus, by conducting psychobiographical research on Steven Paul Jobs, a unique contribution is offered in terms of holistically understanding his development.
By viewing Jobs‘ development through the lens of Adlerian theory, a dynamic perspective that enhances psychobiography, as opposed to a static psychodiagnostic view of the individual‘s pathology (Carlson, 1988) was gained. By drawing on the theoretical contribution that Aaron Antonovsky (1987) made to the body of psychology, the researcher analysed the lived life of Jobs through a salutogenic lens. Antonovsky (1987) emphasised that by thinking salutogenically one will necessarily derive a theory of coping, leading to an 151 individual‘s sense of coherence. By taking Antonovsky‘s definition of SOC into consideration, the researcher explored how Jobs‘ SOC contributed to the formulation of goal formation, creative power and striving from inferiority to superiority, as identified by
Adlerian theory, as a means of ‗choice making‘ leading to the significant life lived. The present psychobiography did not just examine how the subject came to be, but how the subject coped with life obstacles representing the combination of psychology and biography as a way to study lived lives (Elms, 1994).
Limitations of the Research
The theoretical frameworks. Chapter 3, sections 3.2. 9 and 3.3.3 discusses the criticisms of both Adler and Antonovsky‘s theories. This section will thus emphasise only one other limitation inherent to the present study. To the researcher‘s knowledge, no data illustrating the integration of Adler‘s individual psychology with that of Antonovsky‘s sense of coherence has been published. This study thus made a first attempt at an integration of this kind, specifically in the context of a psychobiographical study. For this reason it is important to note that psychobiographical research aims at adding to an existing body of knowledge - psychological explanations were thus not conveyed as absolute assertions by the researcher but rather as speculative interpretations offered to this existing body of knowledge from the psychobiographer.
The psychobiographical subject. The criticisms of selecting Steven Paul Jobs as a research subject have been discussed in Chapter 5, section 5.3. The researcher found that both Adler‘s Individual Psychology (1929) and Aaron Antonovsky‘s Sense of Coherence
(1987) were relevant theories to explore and describe Jobs‘ development in context of his lived life. A particular challenge was summarising and capturing a lived life on paper within the restrictions of a Master‘s research treatise. The experienced restrictions (completion time and scale of the study) required of the researcher to focus on the methodological 152 considerations as addressed in Chapter 5. While no interviews were conducted with surviving acquaintances and relatives of the subject, information (interviews, speeches, authorised biographies, books) on the subject was gathered from the public domain, some of which offered conflicting information. It is for this reason that the researcher made use of methodological considerations such as triangulation in order to reveal only the most pertinent information as relevant to the developmental exploration of Steven Paul Jobs.
Psychobiographical case research. As noted in Chapter 5, psychobiograpical case study as a research method has come under scrutiny. While difficulties inherent in psychobiographical research (credibility, research bias, reductionism, elitism, cross-cultural differences and inflated expectations) were addressed along with the researcher‘s attempt to safeguard against these difficulties, additional limitations to the present study cannot be omitted. Concerns with regards to the study‘s credibility can be noted as criticism of the psychobiogrpahical approach to research. It is for this reason that the present study did not aim to generalise the research finding to the population at large but as an expansion on and confirmation of the theoretical frameworks utilized. In addition, it is to be noted that interpretations offered in the context of this study are speculative and to be viewed in the context of the theoretical grounding of the present study.
Recommendations for Future Research
Future research on the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs is recommended. Research on a larger scale, beyond the limitations inherent to a Master‘s level treatise, would allow for an increase in the depth of analysis of the lived life of Steven Paul Jobs. In such a study it will be useful to utilize both wellness orientated as well as pathology orientated theoretical approaches to analyse Jobs‘ lived life. A comparison between the findings of such contrasting approaches to development will likely provide increased insight into human development. In addition, it is recommended that Steven Paul Jobs‘ life be analysed from 153 additional theoretical frameworks to allow not only for theory testing as such but as a means of comparison in an attempt to increase psychobiographical credibility.
Conclusion
The aims of the research study were achieved through exploring and describing Steven
Paul Jobs‘ lived life by means of Adler‘s Individual Psychology (1929) and Antonovsky‘s
Sense of Coherence (1987). While limitations inherent to the study were noted, the applicability of wellness theory to the description of a lived life became evident. This study aimed to add to the field of psychobiographical research, it also aimed to encourage this research method from a wellness vantage point concerned not merely with how individual‘s live but how they thrive despite less favourable circumstances. As the study of Steven Paul
Jobs added to the body of psychobiography so too perhaps Jobs‘ wisdom can add to the progressive development of the psychobiographical research as it seeks to remain relevant in current times. It is with this hope that this study concludes with Jobs‘ most valued life wisdom as presented in his final words in his Stanford Commencement address (2005): ‗Stay hungry. Stay foolish‘.
154
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162
APPENDIX A
DETAILED LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1. Steven Paul Jobs (1955 – 2011) [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://carenhuman.co.za/why-steve-jobs-always-wore-his-signature-black-turtleneck/
Figure 4.1. Paul Jobs and his son (n.d.) [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/shortbio.php
Figure 4.2. Steve Jobs Childhood Home (Gallo, 2011) [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2011/03/31/apple-at-35-win-over-your-
customers-the-steve-jobs-way/
Figure 4.3. Heathkit AA40 stereo amp (Pate, n.d.) [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://njnnetwork.com/2011/11/can-you-resist-the-tempation-of-black-friday/
Figure 4.4. Steve Jobs, aged 14 years as part of the school electronics club (1969)
[Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.edibleapple.com/2009/12/15/photos-of-a-
young-steve-jobs/
Figure 4.5. Woz using a ‘blue box’ to make a free long-distance phone call (1971)
[Photograph]. Retrieved from http://myoldmac.net/FAQ/TheBlueBox-1.htm
Figure 4.6. Reed College (Sheen, 2010) [Photograph]. Copyright by Bruce
Forster/dk/Alamy.
Figure 4.7. Arcade Game that Jobs and Woz developed for Atari (Sheen, 2010)
[Photograph]. Copyright by ArcadeImages/Alamy.
Figure 4.8. Apple I as designed by Jobs and Woz in 1976 (Sheen, 2010) [Photograph].
Copyright by Kim Kulish/Corbis.
Figure 4.9. First Apple logo under which Jobs and Woz sold their products [Photograph].
Retrieved from http://www.edibleapple.com/2009/04/20/the-evolution-and-history-of-
the-apple-logo/ 163
Figure 4.10. Apple II as designed by Jobs and Woz(Sheen, 2010) [Photograph]. Copyright
By Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis
Figure 4.11. Jobs and Woz at the launch of the Apple II in 1970 (Sheen,2010) [Photograph].
Copyright by Tom Munnecke/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Figure 4.12. Woz working in an unconventional and creative workspace (Sheen, 2010)
[Photograph]. Copyright by Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis
Figure 4.13. Jobs in his barely furnished house in Los Gatos (Walker, 1982) [Photograph].
Retrieved from http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0712/y_walker08.html
Figure 4.14. Apple point-and-click user interface (Sheen, 2010)[Photograph]. Copyright by
Apple/Alamy.
Figure 4.15. Jobs, Sculley and Woz launching the Apple Mac computer (Sheen, 2010)
[Photograph]. Copyright by AP Images.
Figure 4.16. Folk singer Joan Baez.[Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.last.fm/music/Joan+Baez+&+Bob+Dylan/+images/9247667
Figure 4.17. Jobs launching NeXT computers subsequent to his departure from Apple
Computers (Sheen, 2010) [Photograph]. Copyright by Ed Kashi/Corbis.
Figure 4.18. Jobs and his biological sister Mona Jandali Simpson [Photograph]. Retrieved
from http://fandaily.info/slider/mona-jandali-simpson-apple-ceo-steve-jobs-sister/
Figure 4.19. Jobs and his firstborn daughter Lisa Brennan Jobs [Photograph]. Retrieved
from http://fandaily.info/celebrities/meet-lisa-brennan-jobs-steve-jobs-daughter-
photos/
Figure 4.20. Jennifer Egan whom Jobs dated after Joan Baez [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://2or3lines.blogspot.com/2013/02/sleepers-no-time-1978.html
164
Figure 4.21. Tina Redse [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://dailyentertainmentnews.com/tv/tina-redse-is-steve-jobs-ex-girlfriend-photo/
Figure 4.22. Jobs and Laurene Powell [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://mumuandsqueaksplace.blogspot.com/2012/12/steve-jobs-romance-and-laurene-
powell.html
Figure 4.23. Laurene and Jobs (pictured with Lisa) on their wedding day [Photograph].
Retrieved from http://mumuandsqueaksplace.blogspot.com/2012/12/steve-jobs-
romance-and-laurene-powell.html
Figure 4.24. Lisa Brennan Jobs as a teenager [Photograph]. Copyright by Seth Poppel.
Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478339/Steve-Jobs-ex-
lovers-book-reveals-Apple-founder.html
Figure 4.25. Jobs pictured with his firstborn son, Reed [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://dailyentertainmentnews.com/tv/laurene-powell-jobs-apples-steve-jobs-wife/
Figure 4.26. Jobs with his second born daughter, Erin [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://dailyentertainmentnews.com/tv/laurene-powell-jobs-apples-steve-jobs-wife/
Figure 4.27. Jobs with his youngest daughter, Eve [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://dailyentertainmentnews.com/tv/laurene-powell-jobs-apples-steve-jobs-wife/
Figure 4.28. Yoko Ono and John Lennon as featured in Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign.
(Sheen, 2010) [Photograph]. Copyright by Getty Images.
Figure 4.29. The iMac, iBook, iPod Nan, iPhone and iPad as released by Apple under Jobs’
as CEO [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/10/3481926/apple-ipod-nano-review-2012 165
Figure 4.30. Jobs and Laureneat a public event shortly before his death [Photograph].
Copyright by San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/8-things-didn-t-know-life-steve-jobs-
172130955.html
Figure 4.31. Jobs’ decline in health was physically noticeable from 2004 – 2011
[Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.lovelyish.com/itemthemed.aspx?user=lovelyish&uid=754498754&thumb
=
166
APPENDIX B
DATA ANALYSIS GRID
167
APPENDIX C
TIMELINE OF STEVEN PAUL JOBS (1955 – 2011)