This blog contribution is in reference to Jacob’s post titled “why” asking why do dictators dictate and potential psychological aspects.
(I couldn’t comment on it for some reason)
I have been thinking about this a lot lately as well. Why do some individuals want to accumulate so much power? I do think it has a lot to do with personality and how that is shaped (think nature vs nurture) I was thinking about how generally apolitical personality traits might lead to formation of political opinions.
In regards to country leaders, the word sociopath is often thrown around which I think may be a bit unfair and weird to diagnose. But elements of narcissism must exist in leaders who take on a personalist or populist approach to authoritarianism.
This question is probably more for psychology than for political science but it is incredibly interesting to think about, and perhaps thinking about how your own personality traits reflect in your political beliefs.
It is a good question; it is likely that the people who come to be leaders of countries are probably people who enjoy power and its rewards more than the rest of us.
ReplyDelete