The pathos of power: A psychological perspective.

Abstract

THERE is something about the aura of the term which makes it a special burden and a special source of anxiety for everyone involved. Every speech, address, article, or essay exposes an important part of oneself for critical examination by an audience or by readers. For a long time, I have tried to persuade my students that everything that a person writes—all forms of communication—may be viewed as projective materials which reveal aspects of the totality and the complexity of his personality to sensitive observers. If this is true it would follow that to communicate to psychologists, who view themselves as experts in the analysis of personality and character, is to invite not only an analysis of the substance of what one communicates, but also to expose oneself to probing and critical examination. There must be an incorrigible ego drive which propels one to assume the risks of exposure to an audience of psychologists, given the fact that the threat of exposure is greater the more accurate are the judgments concerning the character and wisdom of the speaker. There remains the problem of how can one make a presidential address in some way worth the anxieties and risks? One could use it as an opportunity to try to clarify the underlying conceptual framework implicit in his thoughts, research, writing, teaching, and social action. In one's personal and professional life, it is possible to move from project to project and from encounter to encounter, and to take on a variety of responsibilities and roles without having the time to give thought to the theo-