Psychology Commons^™

“Bin Laden’S Brain”: The Abrasively Negativistic Personality Of Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Aubrey Immelman, Kathryn Kuhlmann

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network at the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States and allegedly chief strategist for al-Qaida operations and personal physician to Osama bin Laden.

Al-Zawahiri’s primary personality patterns were found to be Contentious/oppositional and Dominant/controlling, with secondary features of the Dauntless/dissenting and Ambitious/self-serving patterns.

The amalgam of Contentious (negativistic, or passive-aggressive) and Dominant (aggressive, or sadistic) patterns in al-Zawahiri’s profile suggests the presence of the “abrasive negativist” syndrome. For these personalities, minor frictions easily …

A Research Agenda For Political Personality And Leadership Studies: An Evolutionary Proposal, Aubrey Immelman, Theodore Millon

Psychology Faculty Publications

Despite major neuroscientific advances in the past two decades and parallel conceptual refinement in evolutionary theory, personality-in-politics inquiry remains adrift, divorced from these broader spheres of scientific knowledge. This paper reviews the neurobiological substrates of three major domains of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology relevant to political personality assessment and the psychological examination of political leaders; furnishes a context and set of guiding ideas to revitalize the study of the person as biopsychosocial entity in politics; advances a generative theory of personality and political leadership performance; and proposes an agenda for advancing personality-in-politics and leadership inquiry, informed by insights derived …

The Personality Profile Of September 11 Hijack Ringleader Mohamed Atta, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a posthumous, indirect assessment of the personality of Mohamed Atta, apparent ringleader in the September 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon.

Information concerning Mohamed Atta was collected from media reports in the one-month period following the attack and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM-IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the …

The Personality Profile Of Al-Qaida Leader Osama Bin Laden, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Osama bin Laden, founder and leader of the al-Qaida terrorist network responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States.

Bin Laden’s primary personality patterns were found to be Ambitious/exploitative and Dauntless/dissenting, with a secondary Distrusting/suspicious orientation, and subsidiary Dominant/controlling and Conscientious/dutiful features.

Ambitious individuals are bold, competitive, and self-assured; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and often act as though entitled. Dauntless individuals are bold, courageous, and tough; minimally constrained by the norms of society; routinely engage …

The Political Personality Of U.S. President George W. Bush, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. president George W. Bush, conducted 1998–2000 from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data regarding Bush was extracted from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Bush was found to be …

Portrait Of George W. Bush As A “Late Bloomer”, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This essay documents some of the enduring personal characteristics that provide an empirical basis for assessing George W. Bush’s outgoing, adventurous personality pattern.

The Character Of Hillary Clinton, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This essay documents some of the enduring personal characteristics that provide an empirical basis for assessing Hillary Rodham Clinton’s dominant, ambitious personality pattern from a psychobiographical, psychohistorical perspective.

The Political Personalities Of 2000 U.S. Presidential Candidates George W. Bush And Al Gore, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of indirect psychodiagnostic assessments of the political personalities of Texas governor George W. Bush and U.S. vice president Al Gore, putative Republican and Democratic nominees in the U.S. presidential election of 2000, from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon.

Information concerning George W. Bush and Al Gore was collected from published biographical and autobiographical accounts and political reports in the print media, and synthesized into personality profiles using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The …

Ethical Perspectives And Practice Behaviors Involving Computer-Based Test Interpretation, Mark R. Mcminn, Brent M. Ellens, Erez Soref

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

The debates of the 1980s regarding responsible use of computer-based test interpretation (CBTI) software have mostly disappeared, as CBTI use has become common practice. We surveyed 364 members of the Society for Personality Assessment to determine how they use CBTI software in their work and their perspectives on the ethics of using CBTI in various ways. Psychologists commonly use CBTI software for test scoring and to provide a complementary source of input for case formulations. Most do not use CBTI software as the primary way to formulate a case, nor as an alternative to a written report. Controversy and uncertainty …

The Political Personality Of U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect psychodiagnostic assessment of the political personality of U.S. vice president Al Gore, Democratic nominee in the 2000 presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon.

Information concerning Al Gore was collected from published biographical and autobiographical accounts and political reports in the print media, and synthesized into personality profiles using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM-IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines …

A Repertory Grid Assessment Of Traitedness And Its Relation To The Validity Of The Neo Pi-R Conscientiousness Scale, Susan Nancy Heidal-Schiltz

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Since Allport (1937) first introduced the idea that traits may vary in their relevance for particular individuals, several investigators have explored ways to operationalize the construct of traitedness in order to improve the criterion-related validity of a trait-based approach to personality assessment. Specifically, these investigators have examined the utility of traitedness indicators as moderators of trait-criterion correlations, seeking to separate those individuals who are predictable on a given trait dimension from those who are not. This study attempted to determine whether the criterion-related validity of the Conscientiousness scale from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992) …

A Comparison Of The Political Personalities Of 1996 U.S. Presidential Candidates Bill Clinton And Bob Dole, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper employs the conceptual framework of Theodore Millon to examine and compare the political personalities of President Bill Clinton and Senator Bob Dole. Information pertaining to President Clinton and Senator Dole was gathered from published material and employed to generate a personality profile using the Millon-Type Political Personality Checklist (MPPC).

The assessment revealed that President Clinton’s primarily personality patterns were Asserting/self-promoting and Outgoing/gregarious, with secondary features of the Complaining/discontented, Controlling/forceful, and Agreeing/cooperative patterns. Senator Dole’s primarily personality patterns were Controlling/aggressive and Conforming/regimented, with secondary features of the Asserting/self-promoting and Complaining/negativistic patterns.

The personality profiles yielded by the MPPC are …

“All The Men’S President” — The Political Personality Of Bill Clinton, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This article reports the results of an exploratory political personality assessment of U.S. president Bill Clinton, derived from psychodiagnostic meta-analysis of biographical information in the public domain, and designed to place personological knowledge from diverse sources and divergent perspectives into a coherent psychodiagnostic framework.

Methods To Reduce Leniency Bias In Self-Assessments And Self-Appraisals, Michael Robert Dolen

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Assessment Of Political Personality: A Psychodiagnostically Relevant Conceptualization And Methodology, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to narrow the conceptual and methodological gap between existing formulations in psychodiagnostic theory and current practice in political personality. It is suggested that accurate assessment of the personalities of high-level leaders can significantly improve the prediction of political outcomes but that this endeavor has been hampered by inadequate transposition from the source disciplines of personality theory and psychodiagnostics to the target discipline of contemporary political psychology. It is proposed that Theodore Millon’s personological model offers a viable integrative framework for the study of political personality. The present article explicates Millon’s model, specifies the relevance …

Identification Of Perfectionistic College Students, Susan A. Morgan

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify distinctive personality characteristics for perfectionistic college students. One hundred eighty-four graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in psychology and business courses were asked to participate by completing a measure of perfectionism and a personality test. The participants scores were arranged into groups based on their MPS subscale scores. Discriminant analyses revealed 3 separate clusters of variables which predicted perfectionism group membership with surprising accuracy.

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo: Self And Close-Other Selection Of Personality Test Interpretations, Sheela Word

Dissertations and Theses

In a study investigating the ability of subjects and their close friends or relatives (close-others) to recognize subject personality test results under conditions which controlled for the Barnum effect, 64 male and female undergraduate psychology students were administered the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Each subject later attempted to choose his or her own unidentified CPI profile from among three, and a close-other of the subject independently made the same selection. It was found that 57.81% of subjects and 45.31% of close others were able to correctly identify subject profiles; these results were significant at the .0001 and .05 levels respectively. …

Effects Of Assessor Training On Subsequent Assessment Center Performance, Michael R. Struth

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Factor Analysis Of R-Sort And Its Relationship To Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, Lorraine M. Gorski

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

A Correlational Analysis Of Suggestibility, Self Preoccupation, Styles Of Loving, And Sensation Seeking, Teresa L. Johnston, Matt E. Jaremko

Honors Theses

A number of personality inventories and psychometric measures have been recently introduced to the psychological literature that attempt to measure concepts that have received little empirical scrutiny. Among these are scales to measure response suggestibility (Wilson & Barber, 1976), self-preoccupation (Noles & Jaremko, 1979) and styles of loving (Lasswell & Lasswell, 1976). This paper describes a study of the interrelationships of these measures with a well established personality measure, sensation seeking (Zuckerman, 1978) It is hoped that information on the correlations of these scales will suggest possible directions for future research and theory concerning these constructs.

Evaluation Of A Short-Term Training Program For Enhancing The Quality Of Life, Lynne Milne

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Measurement Of Ambiguity Tolerance (Mat-50): Further Construct Validation, Burl Mostul

Dissertations and Theses

An historical introduction is made tying authoritarianism with ambiguity tolerance. Ambiguity tolerance is a personality variable in its own right, often associated with authoritarianism yet remaining separate from it.

Ambiguity intolerance is defined as the tendency to perceive and interpret information that is marked by vague, fragmented, incomplete, inconsistent, contradictory, or unclear meaning as actual or potential sources of psychological threat. Ambiguity tolerance is defined as the tendency to perceive ambiguous situations as challenging and desirable.

Efforts to measure ambiguity tolerance have met with varied success, however, it was not until Norton (197S) developed the Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance (MAT-50) …

A Comparative Study Of Selected Personality Characteristics Of Students Who Cheat And Do Not Cheat In An Academic Situation, Walter G. Mcintire

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were significant personality differences between students who cheat in a given academic situation and students who do not cheat in the same situation. This was examined in terms of manifest needs, personality structure, and certain attitudes and values relative to the circumstances and setting in which the behavior occurred.

The sample studied consisted of 64 students, classified into 8 groups, from a class of 198 students enrolled in Psychology 213, Educational Psychology, at the University of North Dakota during the spring semester of the 1965--66 academic year.

The students were …