Ever since Donald Trump won the elections, he has made this 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 discussion has been carried out regarding what are some of the reasons why he acts in a certain manner (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). All of these things made for an interesting personality assessment, and this is exactly what would be done during the course of this paper. The personality of Donald Trump would be discussed along with different psychological perspectives and effort would 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 how human behavior is the result of the interactions that happen among the three components of 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 the approaches and behavior towards the world are needed to be changed (Capuzzi, & Stauffer, 2016). The belief came from Freud is that the Id, ego and superego are always in constant flux (Yeager et al. 2014). The 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 would 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 that how the personality of Donald Trump represents a part of the wider dynamic (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Ever since Trump won the elections, he has been talked about as somewhat a living embodiment of the way America’s ID is supposed to work. He brings with him somewhat 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 are bottled up for a very long period of time (Friedman & Schustack, 2016). Also, the railings that he has raised against the political correctness and how one does not have to hold their words back before they speak. 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 impact message about the way civilization is shaped these days; there is quite hard work behind it (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). In some ways, it can be said that the success that is gained by Trump is not due to something that he possesses in his personality (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Neither has it talked about 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 about the way tolerance is going to work out in the way this whole thing works. When there is a delay in gratification 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 the human being. The idea behind his insight was the fact that how 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 in terms of feelings of inferiority, and Adler was one of the few people who had this belief that this feeling and drive towards becoming someone superior to the other 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 sure that they made a lot of sound regarding his money-making prowess (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). Also, to make sure that he goes to show people that he has 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 is better than other people in terms of discipline and other traits that have allowed him to stand out as compared to the 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 that it talks about the way personality development and observational learning are supposed to be carried out. Another thing that it does is that it emphasizes the way self-efficacy and situational influence tend to work around humans (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). There is also mention of the fact that how the cognitive processes are supposed to work around human beings (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2016). The major theorists, if one talks about 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 about the fact that how the importance of social learning is supposed to be carried out (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 workaround 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 self 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 the fact that 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 the fact that what are some of the things that can be used to measure the attention of people (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 ensured the business community of the United States that how 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 the fact that how they are perceived in the global community (Corr & Cooper, 2016). Instead, these people are more fixated on the fact of how their leader is going to make sure that the wider interest of the people of the United States is 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 must be 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 his personality makeup is like that 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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