Sources and editorial methodology

Every work in this companion carries an explicit pairing and evidence label, edition provenance, numbered sources, and an inspection record. This page explains the editorial rules, lists media attributions, and catalogs all 148 cited sources.

Editorial methodology and selection rules

The 60 selected works hold 157 documented claims across fiction, nonfiction, and academic psychology. 24 of 60 works include an optional paired academic paper or monograph whose bibliographic metadata and claim scope are documented explicitly on the profile. Unverified model drafts are never published directly: candidate leads are audited against primary editions, Project Gutenberg records, publisher catalogs, and Crossref or Europe PMC metadata, with 5 candidate works currently held or excluded in the editorial ledger where candidate URLs resolved to wrong books or fell outside psychology scope.

Three editorial boundaries govern every profile. First, fictional characters and literary narrators are never diagnosed with clinical disorders; literary scenes are read as thematic explorations of memory, social pressure, perspective-taking, or moral conflict. Second, memoirs and clinical tales are presented as lived phenomenology or case history rather than population epidemiology or treatment efficacy proof. Third, popular psychology and foundational monographs are read alongside subsequent meta-analyses and replication audits.

Pairing and evidence labels

The badge on each work distinguishes interpretive literary pairings from direct empirical scholarship and contested popular claims.

Interpretive reading: An editorial psychological reading of fiction or memoir. A paper is paired only where the connection is substantive; the narrative is not empirical evidence.
Primary scholarship: A foundational academic book or treatise. Each profile states what was inspected and whether a research paper is paired.
Popular synthesis: A trade psychology or self-help book. Each profile states what was inspected and whether a research paper is paired.
Clinical or lived narrative: A memoir or clinical case collection. Individual narratives are distinguished from systematic evidence; a paper is paired only where the connection is substantive.
Contested claims: A work whose claims are disputed in the research literature. Each profile identifies the part of that dispute discussed here.

Individual claims on each profile carry a specific basis label: publication or textual fact, interpretive literary reading, empirical study finding, theoretical model or framework, contested or qualified evidence.

Genres and boundaries

Works are organized into three primary genres so that literary art, trade nonfiction, and academic monographs are never conflated.

Fiction: Novels, novellas, short stories, and drama read through an interpretive psychological lens, never as clinical cases.
Nonfiction: Memoirs, clinical case collections, popular psychology, self-help, and histories or critiques of psychological science.
Academic: Foundational scholarly monographs, experimental treatises, and theoretical volumes written for researchers and students.

What inspected means

The catalog below contains 148 distinct sources: 51 with primary text or archive/edition records checked, 14 with an indexed journal abstract read, 83 with bibliographic metadata checked via DOI or catalog record, and none left unverified. We never claim to have read the full text of an article or book when verification rests on an indexed abstract, publisher catalog page, or DOI metadata record.

Primary text or passage read: The relevant chapters, passages, or public-domain full text were opened and checked directly.
Indexed abstract read: An indexed journal abstract (via Crossref or Europe PMC) was opened and read. Claims citing it stay within abstract scope.
Edition, title-page, or archive record checked: An archive scan, digital edition page, or official bibliographic record was opened and verified.
Bibliographic metadata or reference record checked: A bibliographic metadata record (Crossref/Europe PMC DOI resolution) or reference entry was checked for publication facts.
Search summary only, not verified: Only a search result summary was seen. This is not counted as verification.
Not accessed, not verified: The source could not be opened. This is not counted as verification.

Media attribution and license ledger

All displayed book covers, title pages, and adaptation posters are stored locally under /media/ with zero runtime third-party requests. Official trailers are linked as same-tab external links only and are never embedded. Every asset documents its source, license, and basis of use.