Document Type
Paper
Publication Date
6-2003
Disciplines
Leadership Studies | Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | Other Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Other Political Science | Other Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts
Abstract
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 from the contextually adjacent fields of behavioral neuroscience and evolutionary ecology.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2003 by Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics / Aubrey Immelman
Recommended Citation
Immelman, A., & Millon, T. (2003, June). A research agenda for political personality and leadership studies: An evolutionary proposal. Unpublished manuscript, Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, Collegeville and St. Joseph, MN. Digital Commons. http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/124/
Conceptual model for assessing personality and political performance
Included in
Leadership Studies Commons, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Other Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons
Comments
Portions of this paper were adapted from the authors’ publications referenced below:
Immelman, A. (1993). The assessment of political personality: A psychodiagnostically relevant conceptualization and methodology. Political Psychology, 14(4), 725–741. https://doi.org/10.2307/3791383
Immelman, A. (2003). Personality in political psychology. In I. B. Weiner (Series Ed.), T. Millon & M. J. Lerner (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 5. Personality and social psychology (pp. 599–625). Wiley. Full text available at https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/51/
Millon, T. (2003). Evolution: A generative source for conceptualizing the attributes of personality. In I. B. Weiner (Series Ed.), T. Millon & M. J. Lerner (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 5. Personality and social psychology (pp. 3–30). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/0471264385.wei0501
Related work:
Immelman, A. (2005). Political psychology and personality. In S. Strack (Ed.), Handbook of personology and psychopathology (pp. 198–225). Wiley. Full text available at https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/49/
Note:
The Millon Personality Group continues the tradition and work of its forerunner organization founded by Dr. Theodore Millon (1928–2014) — the Institute for Advanced Studies in Personology and Psychopathology.