ABSTRACT
There is a long history of using written texts in general to illustrate and sometimes test psychological theories (Lester, 1987). For example, theories of suicide have been tested using the content of suicide notes (Leenaars, 1988a). Occasionally, suicides (for example, Sylvia Plath) leave a book or poem describing their behavior, and this kind of material may be of use in exploring the unconscious psychodynamics of the suicidal act. In other fields of psychology, folk tales of primitive societies have been studied, for example, for evidence of the societal needs for achievement and power (McClelland, Davis, Wanner, & Kalin 1966), and literary stimuli have been used in studies of people’s preference for differing degrees of complexity (Kammann, 1966).
