- [UNTITLED]
- About the Contributors
- Introduction: Theoretical Foundations of Political Psychology
- Personality Approaches to Political Behavior
- Childhood and Adult Political Development
- Degrees of Rationality in Politics
- Behavioral Decision-Making
- Emotion and Political Psychology
- Toward an Evolutionarily Informed Political Psychology
- Genetic Foundations of Political Behavior
- Political Rhetoric
- Psychology and Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Perceptions and Image Theory in International Relations
- Threat Perception in International Relations
- Crisis Management
- Personality Profiles of Political Elites
- Psychobiography: “the Child is Father of the man”
- Conflict Analysis and Resolution
- Political Information Processing
- Political Communication: Form and Consequence of the Information Environment
- Political Ideology
- Social Justice
- Networks, Interdependence, and Social Influence in Politics
- Political Deliberation
- From Group Identity to Political Cohesion and Commitment
- Social Movements and the Dynamics of Collective Action
- Prejudice and Politics
- Migration and Multiculturalism
- Discrimination <i>Conditions, Consequences, and “Cures”</i>
- The Psychology of Intractable Conflicts: Eruption, Escalation, and Peacemaking
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
All too often, when leaders come to power, very little is known about the significant relationships and events that have shaped their adult personalities. This chapter emphasizes the necessity of understanding political leadership in the context of the life cycle. Drawing especially on Erik Erikson and Dan Levinson, it emphasizes key life transitions and the shaping of political identity. Among the examples considered are Woodrow Wilson, Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Menachem Begin, and the shah of Iran, highlighting the manner in which their early life experiences shaped their leadership behavior. Emphasis is also given to the effects of illness on leadership behavior.
Keywords: identity, illness, leadership, life cycle, power
Jerrold M. Post, M.D. is professor of Psychiatry, Political Psychology, and International Affairs, and director of the Political Psychology Program, and the George Washington University. He was the founding director of the CIA’s Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior, where he took the lead in preparing the Camp David profiles of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. Dr. Post is author and/or editor of 11 books, including The Psychological Assessment of Political Leaders, and Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World.
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- [UNTITLED]
- About the Contributors
- Introduction: Theoretical Foundations of Political Psychology
- Personality Approaches to Political Behavior
- Childhood and Adult Political Development
- Degrees of Rationality in Politics
- Behavioral Decision-Making
- Emotion and Political Psychology
- Toward an Evolutionarily Informed Political Psychology
- Genetic Foundations of Political Behavior
- Political Rhetoric
- Psychology and Foreign Policy Decision-Making
- Perceptions and Image Theory in International Relations
- Threat Perception in International Relations
- Crisis Management
- Personality Profiles of Political Elites
- Psychobiography: “the Child is Father of the man”
- Conflict Analysis and Resolution
- Political Information Processing
- Political Communication: Form and Consequence of the Information Environment
- Political Ideology
- Social Justice
- Networks, Interdependence, and Social Influence in Politics
- Political Deliberation
- From Group Identity to Political Cohesion and Commitment
- Social Movements and the Dynamics of Collective Action
- Prejudice and Politics
- Migration and Multiculturalism
- Discrimination <i>Conditions, Consequences, and “Cures”</i>
- The Psychology of Intractable Conflicts: Eruption, Escalation, and Peacemaking
- Index
