Ever since Donald Trump won the election, he has made a habit of staying in the headlines. Not many presidents in the history of the United States have enjoyed the same level of media scrutiny as Trump. His behavior and what he has said have been analyzed, and discussions have been carried out regarding some of the reasons why he acts in a certain manner (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). All of these things make for an interesting personality assessment, and this is exactly what will be done during the course of this paper. The personality of Donald Trump will be discussed along with different psychological perspectives, and an effort will be made to ensure that some sort of definitive opinion is formed around his personality.
Freudian Perspective
One of the defining aspects of the theory put forth by Freud is that human behavior is the result of the interactions that happen among the three components of the mind. These three parts are:
- – ID
- – Ego
- – Superego
There is always conflict among these three structures, and all this time, human beings have made a conscious effort to make sure that they find the right balance in terms of the way desires are determined and how approaches and behavior towards the world need to be changed (Capuzzi, & Stauffer, 2016). Freud’s belief was that the Id, ego and superego are always in constant flux (Yeager et al. 2014). Adult personality and behavior somewhat mirror the internal struggles that a person goes through at a given time period (Lozano et al. 2015). In some ways, a personality analysis of Donald Trump will be carried out (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016).
If one extends the personality formulation that is talked about by Freud into the embodiment of the working culture, then it can be seen how the personality of Donald Trump represents a part of the wider dynamic (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Ever since Trump won the election, he has been talked about as somewhat of a living embodiment of the way America’s ID is supposed to work. He brings with him somewhat of a fleshy energy, and at times, he is not really bothered about the way conventions of civility work (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). The major theme that can be seen behind the ascension of Trump, as Freud would have described, is the return of the people who are regressed (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). It is an eruption of the urges that have been bottled up for a very long period of time (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Also, there are the railings that he has raised against political correctness and the idea that one does not have to hold one’s words back before speaking. Furthermore, the energy that Trump seems to exhibit is infectious, to say the least, and rather appetitive in the long run (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Another underlying message that one gets from Trump is the idea of freedom. It is liberation from the constraints that are placed on civilized conversations. That includes commerce and consciousness as well. It is a very impactful message about the way civilization is shaped these days; there is quite a lot of hard work behind it (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). In some ways, it can be said that the success gained by Trump is not due to something that he possesses in his personality (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Neither does it address the way new malaise is affecting the politics of the people these days. His success, as a matter of fact, can be attributed to the unique psychic architecture that has developed among humans these days (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). The other interesting aspect is the way tolerance is going to work out in the way this whole thing works. There is a delay in gratification that is attributed to hard work (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016).
Alfred Adler Psychology Perspective
Adler was one of the few psychologists who believed that there are negative tendencies in human beings. The idea behind his insight was the fact that the personality of any person most of the time revolves around the notion that they are striving for superiority (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). He attributed this concept to how, most of the time, human beings try to make sure that they gain the upper hand over others (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). There is also an inherent desire in human beings to make sure that they overcome challenges (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). When they overcome these challenges, they tend to make sure that they move a bit closer to the idea of self-realization (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). The desire to achieve superiority stems from the fact that people all the time tend to make sure that they move toward this notion of self-realization (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). There is a desire among people to make sure that they achieve superiority over feelings of inferiority, and Adler was one of the few people who believed that this feeling and drive towards becoming someone superior to another is universal (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016).
Now, if one looks at this whole perspective and compares it with the life of Trump, he has always tended to make sure that he stands out from the crowd (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Despite the fact that he was not even one of the top 100 richest people in the United States, he was able to make a lot of noise regarding his money-making prowess (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Also, to make sure that he could show people that he had an upper hand over them, he had his own reality show, “The Apprentice”. In that show, he showed quite a lot of times how he was better than other people in terms of discipline and other traits that allowed him to stand out compared to other people in the given time period (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). At the same time, even before he went into politics about two decades ago, he had provided a brief outline regarding what sort of president he was going to turn out to be (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). He was so confident about his success, and at times, when people are so confident about themselves, it goes a long way towards making sure that people stand up and take notice of what is being said by them (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). This yearning for superiority goes a long way in ensuring the standing of Donald Trump (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016).
Social Cognitive Perspective
In the final perspective on the personality of the person, the social cognitive perspective is going to be looked at (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). What it does is talk about the way personality development and observational learning are supposed to be carried out. Another thing that it does is emphasize the way self-efficacy and situational influence tend to work around humans (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). There is also mention of the fact that cognitive processes are supposed to work around human beings (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). The major theorists, if one talks about the social cognitive perspective, are not many (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). In fact, Albert Bandura is the only person who has talked about it. In his work, he has emphasized the importance of social learning (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Furthermore, it tends to look at the way learning is supposed to happen through observation (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). The theory that is put forth by him explains the importance of the development of conscious thought processes among people. It also tends to look at the way self-efficacy works in people as well as how people’s own belief in their abilities is going to work out (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016).
If one looks at this whole set of ideals in terms of the way the personality of Donald Trump is shaped, there are many interesting observations that can be seen. The key thing that can be noted here is how someone can learn with the help of observation. The theory that was put forth by him emphasizes how the conscious thought process of the person is going to work out in the long run (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Donald Trump has spent a lot of time making sure that he learns about the electoral process and American politics (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). He is well aware of some of the things that can be used to gain people’s attention (Corr & Cooper, 2016). For instance, not many leaders have attempted to go to the point regarding the way taxation and policy making are supposed to be carried out (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). He assured the business community of the United States that he was going to ease things for them, thus presenting himself as a viable candidate for the American people (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Another thing that he used to his advantage was the sense of nationalism of the American people. He had a fair idea that despite all the antics that are carried out by the United States across the rest of the world, the people in the United States do not give much importance to how they are perceived in the global community (Corr & Cooper, 2016). Instead, these people are more fixated on the question of how their leader is going to make sure that the wider interests of the people of the United States are going to be taken care of. These were some of the factors that played a huge part in his success (Corr & Cooper, 2016).
Conclusion
In hindsight, it can be seen that the sense of self-belief and the conscious effort to portray a powerful persona are some of the key defining traits of Donald Trump (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). He has consciously made sure that the Id of the people of the United States is focused upon (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). He has also made sure that he portrays a sense of self-confidence and superiority over the people (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Now it is up for debate whether it was all a conscious effort on his part or whether his personality makeup is such that he tends to believe that he is better than the other people who are surrounding him. Regardless of that, he is one of the few personalities who have based the mantra of his success on the fact that people should notice his power and prowess (Friedman & Schustack, 2016).
References
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2016). Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions. John Wiley & Sons.
Corr, P. J., & Cooper, A. J. (2016). The Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ): Development and validation. Psychological assessment, 28(11), 1427.
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2016). Personality: Classic theories and modern research. Pearson.
Lozano, R., Carpenter, A., & Huisingh, D. (2015). A review of ‘theories of the firm ’ and their contributions to Corporate Sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 430-442.
Yeager, D. S., Johnson, R., Spitzer, B. J., Trzesniewski, K. H., Powers, J., & Dweck, C. S. (2014). The far-reaching effects of believing people can change: Implicit theories of personality shape stress, health, and achievement during adolescence. Journal of personality and social psychology, 106(6), 867.
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