Personality and Social Contexts 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 …

Personality In Political Psychology, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This chapter outlines the history of personality inquiry in political psychology, examines the current state of personality assessment in politics, and charts a course for the study of personality in politics in the post-cognitive revolution era, informed by contextually adjacent scientific fields such as behavioral neuroscience and evolutionary ecology.

The chapter offers a comprehensive, generative, theoretically coherent framework for studying personality in politics, consonant with established principles in the adjacent sciences and integrative with respect to accommodating a diversity of politically relevant personal characteristics. The proposed framework attempts to bridge conceptual and methodological gaps between current formulations in the source …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Clinton Chronicle: Diary Of A Political Psychologist, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Chronicle, from the perspective of political psychology, of events and controversies in the impeachment saga of President Bill Clinton, from the president’s August 17, 1998 testimony before the grand jury in the Starr investigation to his acquittal on February 12, 1999.

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.

A Millon-Based Study Of Political Personality: Nelson Mandela And F. W. De Klerk -- Part Ii: Further Results And Implications, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper reports the results of a psychobiographical investigation, using the Millon-Type Political Personality Checklist, of the political personalities of outgoing South African president F. W. de Klerk and newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela, and examines the interactional influence of their respective personalities in facilitating South Africa’s transition from apartheid state to nonracial democracy.

A Millon-Based Study Of Political Personality: Nelson Mandela And F. W. De Klerk -- Part I: Method And Preliminary Results, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper reports the method and preliminary findings of an investigation of the political personalities of South African president F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress president Nelson Mandela. The purpose of the study was to assess the utility of Theodore Millon’s personological model as an alternative or supplementary conceptual framework and methodology for the assessment of political personality. Conceptually, the investigation was conducted from the perspective of a model of personality compatible with Axis II of DSM-III-R, which serves as an important psychodiagnostic frame of reference for the practice of contemporary psychiatry and clinical psychology. Methodologically, the investigation involved …