Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
7-2008
Disciplines
International Relations | Leadership Studies | Other Political Science | Other Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts
Abstract
This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The study was conducted from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon’s model of personality.
Information concerning Sarkozy was collected from biographical sources and media reports 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 basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Sarkozy’s primary personality patterns were found to be Ambitious/exploitative and Dominant/controlling, with secondary features of the Conscientious/dutiful, Outgoing/gregarious, Dauntless/adventurous, and Contentious/resolute patterns.
The amalgam of Ambitious and Dominant patterns in combination with distinctive Contentious features in Sarkozy’s profile suggests the presence of an adaptive, nonpathological variant of Millon’s compensatory narcissist syndrome. According to Millon, people with this personality composite seek to counteract feelings of inferiority by creating illusions of superiority.
The major implication of the study is that it offers an empirically based personological framework for anticipating Nicolas Sarkozy’s leadership style as chief executive.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2008 by Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics / Pascal De Sutter & Aubrey Immelman
Recommended Citation
Immelman, A., & De Sutter, P. (2008, July). The political personality of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Paper presented at the 31st Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology, Paris, France, July 9-12, 2008. Retrieved from Digital Commons website: http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/26/
Included in
International Relations Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons
Comments
The research was conducted by Pascal De Sutter in collaboration with the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics (USPP) at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict in Collegeville and St. Joseph, Minnesota, directed by Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, who specializes in the psychological assessment of presidential candidates and world leaders.
More information and updates: http://personality-politics.org/nicolas-sarkozy
Related report
The Political Personality of 2007 French Presidential Candidate Ségolène Royal » http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/27/