Personality and Social Contexts Commons^™

Vestiges Of Communism And Personnel Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article illustrates several interpretive difficulties in employing personnel security criteria in the context of national security.

Trends. Husbands, Wives, And Terrorism: The Validity Of Beliefs And The Threat Of Interpretive Strategies, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses threat assessment via linguistic analysis.

Trends. A Room With A Cue: Validating An Age-Old Intelligence Tool?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the psychological implications of the choices regarding physical features of a given individual’s environment (e.g., a person’s office).

Trends. Aviation Terrorism's Winning Hand, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses aviation security, terrorism, and the psychology behind pilot motivations for opting out of flying members of the Israeli government to Israel.

Personality And Psychobiography, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes Issues related to the construct of personality and the construct's application to understanding, predicting, and influencing people.

Trends. Too Good To Be True As The Good And The True: The Political Psychology Of The Con, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the psychology of cons (confidence games), or swindles.

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 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 …

Trends. Fetishism, Secrecy, And Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy News and how it characterized the Bush Administration’s stance towards the President’s Daily Brief as “fetishism.”

Trends. The Error Of The Fundamental Attribution Error: The Character Assassinations Of Sharon And Arafat, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the propagandistic language surrounding Ariel Sharon and Yasir Arafat in the context of Middle Eastern politics of Israel and Palestine.

Projective Musings On Political Alternatives Of Projective Identification, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes interpretations of the projective identification construct.

Magical Thinking But No Magic: Implications For Sacred Terrorism, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes lay and scientific psychological constructs of magic with implications for terrorism perpetrated through religious motivation.

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 …

Profiling Profiling And Suicidal Terrorism, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes chronic flaws in developing profiles that are intended to help prevent or minimize suicidal terrorism.

Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense As Obsession: A Psychological Hypothesis, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents a psychological rationale for extremely strong support of an anti-ballistic missile defense.

Commentary On Psychological Warfare In The 21st Century, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides commentary on 21st century challenges--threats and opportunities--to the practice of psychological warfare.

Psychological Profiles And The Intifada: Commentary On Sarhan And Al Khatib, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article critiques a psychological profile that was developed to help explain the ongoing Palestinian Intifada and that was written by two physicians working at a Jordanian psychiatric hospital.

Trends. Personnel Security And Counterintelligence: No Evidence Of Racial Bias As Racism, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the concepts of race and racial bias in the context of espionage investigations carried out by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Counter-Intelligence On Espionage In The People's Republic Of China, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article analyzes the consensual Western perception that many allegations of espionage made by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) are violations of universal human rights.

Ideal Assessment For The Political Elite: A Lacanian Perspective, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article advocates for the utility of two Lacanian personality constructs in the assessment of political leaders and the politically powerful.

Trends. False Consciousness And Contemporary Psychological Research, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Most professional psychological organizations purport to create knowledge and provide services for human welfare. Yet these organizations may support research traditions that can very easily be exploited by political authorities working to maintain political power and exploit citizenry. The article discusses how the consciousnesses of psychologists in the psychological organizations purporting to do good can themselves be exemplars of false consciousness.

Trends. The Privileged Status Of The Physical In Health Ideology: The Security Consequences Of Aids, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the importance of recognizing both physical and psychological factors of the AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) pandemic on security.

The Utility Of Psychological Research To Aid And Abet Violence: Terrorist Talent Scouts And The Selection And Management Of Youthful Terrorists, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identities the political implications of psychological research intended to prevent or minimize youthful violence. The article then focuses on how this research can be used to help select and manage youthful terrorists.

Self-Injurious Behavior As A Window To The Soul: Support For A Will To Power?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes a rationale for self-injurious behavior in the political world

Revisiting The United States Hostage Negotiation Policy: An Academic Imperative. Part Ii, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article comes in two parts - the article and the notes.

Article abstract: To get hostages released without harm requires a national policy committed to that principle. With that in mind, there needs to be an understanding of the perpetrators' "objective view" of reality. These views have political, economic, psychological, cultural, ethno-religious and perceptual dimensions. Those multivariate dimensions of any hostage situation mandate policies that should be based on law enforcement and military perspectives, in order to be flexible enough to permit their consideration and continuously evaluate their national and international implications.

Part II: Notes and bibliography for Part …

Personology, Profiling, And The Terrorist, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies problems in common approaches to capturing the psychological essence of the terrorist.

Revisiting The United States Hostage Negotiation Policy: An Academic Imperative. Part I, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article comes in two parts - the article and the notes.

Article abstract: To get hostages released without harm requires a national policy committed to that principle. With that in mind, there needs to be an understanding of the perpetrators' "objective view" of reality. These views have political, economic, psychological, cultural, ethno-religious and perceptual dimensions. Those multivariate dimensions of any hostage situation mandate policies that should be based on law enforcement and military perspectives, in order to be flexible enough to permit their consideration and continuously evaluate their national and international implications.

Part II: Notes and bibliography for Part …

Politics, Childhood Sexual Abuse, And Science Abuse, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article explores the latest political developments concerning the scientific analysis of childhood sexual abuse.

Trends. Logic Limitations And Missile Defense, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the limitations of logic in truth-finding using public discourse on national missile defense as an example.

The Politics Of Changing Sexual Orientation, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identifies cognitions of value that permeate political discourse on the scientific validity of intentionally changing sexual orientation via clinical methods.