Verbal Behavior and Personality AssessmentProblems of Method in Psychobiographical ResearchOur method differs from those of certain psychobiographers who
attempt elaborate psychodynamic formulations and psychogenetic
reconstructions on the basis of selected incidents in the lives of his-
torical figures. Attempts to clarify the unconscious conflicts of pub-
lic figures can never rise above the level of speculative analysis, no
matter how intuitive the biographer may be. The surface manifesta-
tions of ego and superego functions, on the other hand, are subject to
observation and objective recording in a variety of settings. Much
greater attention must be paid to the conflict-free areas of ego func-
tioning if we wish to enlarge our understanding of that which dis-
tinguishes the makers of history from the rest of humanity. The
method used relies entirely upon data available to everyone. It can be
learned from published reports and requires no special intuitive
powers.
Description of the Verbal Categories
Qualifiers
The category of qualifiers includes expressions of uncertainty ("/
think I'll go to the ball game today"); modifiers that weaken state-
ments without adding information ("That old house is kind of
spooky"); and phrases that contribute a sense of vagueness or loose-
ness to a statement ("Then we enjoyed what you might call an evening
of relaxation").
Qualifiers are almost always uttered before the complete verb is
spoken. The message is, therefore, discounted before it is transmit-
ted. When they occur frequently, qualifiers indicate a lack of deci-
siveness or an avoidance of commitment. The use of qualifiers has
also been said to increase with anxiety (Lalljee and Cook 1975). In
my study of the speech patterns of post-World War II presidents,
Gerald Ford used significantly more qualifiers than the other chief
executives, giving his style of speaking a halting, indecisive flavor
(Weintraub 1989, 161). A very low frequency of qualifiers conveys a
dogmatic flavor to speech.
It is important that speech samples be gathered in the same way