The Aggrandizer Personality
Type
I have posted another essay on the aggrandizer. Here is a reminder of the concept.
Dr. Brian Hayden proposed the concept of an aggrandizer as
a personality type. I first learned this
in reading his article “Pathways to power: Principles
for creating socioeconomic inequalities” in Foundation of Social Inequality edited by T. D. Price and G. Feinman. I think this is an important concept for understanding our
past, present and future.
My initial question was the origin of
the aggrandizer personality type
Below is a first paragraph from one of
his publications that he sent to me as a pdf via email.
“Big
Man, Big Heart? The Political Role of Aggrandizers in Egalitarian and Transegalitarian
Societies”
Brian
Hayden
Anthropological
theories of elites (leaders) in traditional societies tend to focus
on how elites can be viewed as helping the community at large. The origin
of elites is cast in functionalist or communitarian terms (viewing societies
as adaptive systems). A minority opinion argues that elites were not
established by communities for the community benefit, but emerged as a
result of manipulative strategies used by ambitious, exploitative individuals
(aggrandizers). While the communitarian perspective may
be
appropriate for understanding simple hunter/gatherer communities, I argue
that elites in complex hunter/gatherer communities and horticultural communities
operate much more in accordance with aggrandizer principles, and that it is
their pursuit of aggrandizer self-interests that really explains the initial
emergence of elites. This occurs preferentially under conditions of resource
abundance and involves a variety of strategies used to manipulate community
opinions, values, surplus production, and surplus use.
From: For
the Greater Good of All: Perspectives on Individualism, Society, and Leadership
(Jepson Studies in Leadership) Edited by Forsyth, Donelson R. and Hoyt, Crystal L. 2010.
Dr. Hayden
associates the behavior of the aggrandizer with the psychopath as studied and
defined by Robert Hare. (see additional
readings)
A
mind opener and humorous to me because it exposes my myopia.
As
a student of psychology, I am aware that all families have their issues. I have studied and followed anthropology for
50 years. That there were specific personalities such as the shaman or the
berdache has always been clear to me. I
simply had not incorporated into my awareness that our ancestor from the beginning
of our species each had personalities (as do certainly most mammals) and to
paraphrase Arno Gruen, “to be born human is to be born into a
dangerous situation because no one knows what they are doing.” (from The
Betrayal of the Self New York: Grove Press, 1988)
What fascinates me
is that there were dysfunctional families in the caves of our past. For all humans across time and culture, child
rearing practices and parent personalities have shaped our history.
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After
learning about the aggrandizer concept, one of my questions and interests was
what was the origin of the aggrandizer personality. Dr. Hayden and I have discussed via emails
the Nature/Nurture question. He leans
towards genetics. As a retired
psychologist, I am in the middle.
For
me the description of the aggrandizer brought to mind what I knew about
narcissism. It is a subject I had
explored years ago. Then searching our
library system, I found this interesting book on narcissism and
Machiavellianism.
Barry, C.T; Kerig, P.K.; Stellwagen, K.K.; and Barry, T.D.
editors. 2011. Narcissism and
Machiavellianism in Youth: Implications for the Development of Adaptive and
Maladaptive Behavior. APA.
Washington, DC.
Machiavellianism as a behavior pattern was not something with
which I was familiar. So I looked at the
descriptors for both narcissism and Machiavellianism. Then I searched for the etiology of these two
personality types. It appears the
behavioral descriptions of narcissism and Machiavellianism mirror those of the
aggrandizer personality type.
Couple narcissistic traits with those associated with Machiavellian behavior.
“Machiavellians (Machs) do not inhabit the realm of emotion in the same way as others, yet they use it to manipulate others. They do not experience feelings, empathy, or morality in normative ways, yet they are consummate manipulators and deceivers precisely by playing upon these sentiments and convictions of others.” Pg. 213
McIlwain, Doris. 2011.
“Young Machiavellians and the Traces of Shame: Coping with Vulnerability
to a Toxic Affect”. In Barry, C.T; Kerig, P.K.; Stellwagen, K.K.; and Barry, T.D.
editors. 2011. Narcissism and
Machiavellianism in Youth: Implications for the Development of Adaptive and
Maladaptive Behavior. APA.
Washington, DC. Pg. 213-231.
“Linking the
experience of dysfunctional parental rearing with manifest psychopathology: A
theoretical framework.” Carlo Perris. Pg. 7. Perris, Carlo; Arrindell, W.A.;
Eisemann, M. editors. 1994. Parenting and Psychopathology. Wiley. N.Y.
For
me it appears there are parallels between narcissism, Machiavellianism and
psychopathology. If these are traits
that can be associated with the aggrandizer personality type, given the genetic
component, what environmental/child rearing is associated with narcissism and Machiavellianism?
Etiologies
“The exact cause of narcissistic personality disorder is
not known. However, many mental health professionals believe it results from
extremes in child rearing. For example, the disorder might develop as the
result of excessive pampering, or when a child’s parents have a need for their
children to be talented or special in order to maintain their own self-esteem.
On the other end of the spectrum, narcissistic personality disorder might
develop as the result of neglect or abuse and trauma inflicted by parents or
other authority figures during childhood.” From:
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/neurological_institute/center-for-behavorial-health/disease-conditions/hic-narcissistic-personality-disorder
Another description mirrors the two extremes noted above:
“Consistent with Millon’s (1981) social
learning theory, multiple studies have found a link between parental indulgence
. .
. and maladaptive forms of narcissism.
. . . parental permissiveness, parental
overvaluation . . .
parental monitoring.
There is also substantial evidence
supporting the object relations viewpoint that child narcissism comes from a
parent’s selfish use of the child that is manifest in excessive or inconsistent
parental control. . . .
psychological control . . . authoritarianism .
. . overdomination which combines
monitoring and psychological control.
Abstracted from pg. 133.
“Kohut argued that self-focused
parenting is characterized as either neglectful or enmeshed and that either
type of parenting can lead to narcissism.”
Kernberg argued that selfish parents
place the child on a vicarious pedestal, as the family or parent’s hope for
glory or success. As such, the parenting tends to be hyperdemanding with little
displays of affection or support. . . .
selfish parenting tethers parental displays of affection to child behavior that
meets the parents’ standards of success.
Abstracted from page 128.
Horton, Robert S. “On Environmental Sources of Child
Narcissism: Are Parents Really to Blame?”
Pg. 125-143. In Barry, C.T;
Kerig, P.K.; Stellwagen, K.K.; and Barry, T.D. editors. 2011. Narcissism and Machiavellianism in
Youth: Implications for the Development of Adaptive and Maladaptive Behavior. APA. Washington, DC.
One of these two extremes is associated with Machiavellianism.
Given
the possible shame component, I looked at how shame is a critical part of our
humanness. Shame can be looked at as a
feeling of not belonging, of exclusion from the group. For a highly and imperatively social
animal, our lifelong development of attachment/bonding is pivotal to
belonging. We have a genetically based
need to find structure, process and meaning within a social context that arises
from both our evolutionary path and the very composition of our information
processing. It is an interplay of
biology, language, family, society, culture, and cosmology. It is a dynamic, ongoing, relational process
within ourselves and with others.
It is
important to understand the core of shame is not belonging. As a totally social animal, not belonging is
a powerful motivator. As example,
shame arises when we, as children, have no socially acceptable release for our
natural frustration/anger. Or where our
natural feelings of flight manifest as fear or terror are condemned. Shame is the feeling that arises when a
behavior that is manifesting a naturally occurring internal state invokes the
social response of disgust; of being cast out; of not belonging.
With the social response
imprinted very early on our basic survival patterns, self- consciousness acts
to maintain a sense of shame whenever the disallowed internal experience
occurs. This is often below awareness
because recognition of this aspect of our self is a threat to belonging; hence
to survival.
Shame’s
counterpart is guilt. Guilt arises from the disapproval of our behavior as
opposed to rejection of our personhood.
When guilt occurs, a way is taught for rectifying our error and for the
acceptable expression (no matter how convoluted) of our experience within the
social context. Guilt provides a process
for continued membership in the group.
In this way it provides continued support for the “traditional” patterns
of socially accepted behavior.
Shame and guilt are decidedly
different experiences. Guilt offers
continued membership while shame banishes. The pathway to human belonging is
channeled and powered by these two emotions of reference that arise through the
functioning of self-consciousness. I
believe these two emotions of reference are primary in the processes of
personal and social change.
(The
concept of emotions of reference comes from Lewis, Michael. 1992. Shame-The
Exposed Self. The Free Press. N.Y.)
Childrearing styles may reinforce the
genetics of the aggrandizer personality type.
If so there are two possible parental behaviors. There is the coddle, “you are special” path
that is really the child taking care of the parent’s needs. The child gets a message “don’t grow up,
don’t individuate.” When the child
attempts separation and nascent personhood, the parent withdraws connection
creating a sense of abandonment. So the
child, growing into adult, vacillates between the anger of enmeshment and the
fear of abandonment.
The second parental
behavior is the harsh, critical, authoritarian approach that narrowly defines
the permissible behavior for being acceptable.
This form is often found among fundamentalist (no matter the persuasion).
It is mirrored in Alice Miller’s For Your Own Good (Farrar Straus Giroux.
1983.) about the childrearing
experience of Adolf Hitler.
Both of these paths facilitate shame, a feeling of being outside, a
sense of not being acceptable, perhaps a feeling of a group of one and hence a
defense/offense for personal survival.
What Dr. Hayden has added to the
equation of our social development is an understanding of people with a
personality type that uses people, the society, and resources to enhance and
empower themselves.
If the extreme self-interest personality types
are given free rein, they usually ruin the lives of others, erode society and
culture, and degrade the environment. They have always been a force to be dealt
with by community action, and they are so today.
–
Brian Hayden
Narcissism,
Machiavellianism and Psychopathology
There is some relationship between
Machiavellianism, psychopathology and narcissism. They have been referred to as the “Dark Triad
of personality”. Paulhus, D.L. & Williams, K.M. (2002). “The Dark Triad
of Personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathology.” Journal of Research in Personality,
36, 556-563.
For psychopathology vs
Machiavellianism, the psychopath derives pleasure from harming others, whereas
this is not the motivation of Machiavellian.
Pg. 197 “The New Scoundrel of the
Schoolyard” by Kerig, Patricia and Sink, Holli in Barry, C.T;
Kerig, P.K.; Stellwagen, K.K.; and Barry, T.D. editors. 2011. Narcissism and Machiavellianism in
Youth: Implications for the Development of Adaptive and Maladaptive Behavior.
The psychopath lacks normal human
emotional experience; the narcissist has a full range of emotions with high
possibility of emotional displays. The
Machiavellian may suppress emotions because of an inability to handle shame;
while the psychopath feels no shame. Pg. 257 -258.
Kimonis, Eva, et al.
“Conclusion: Current Themes, Futre Directions, and Clinical Implicatins
Regarding Narcissism and Machiaverllianism in Youth.” In Barry, C.T; Kerig, P.K.; Stellwagen, K.K.; and Barry, T.D.
editors. 2011. Narcissism and
Machiavellianism in Youth: Implications for the Development of Adaptive and
Maladaptive Behavior. APA.
Washington, DC.
Caveat
Dr.
Hayden associates the aggrandizer personality with psychopaths by referencing Without
Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by
Robert Hare.
My
assessment has described narcissistic personality disorder
and
Machiavellianism.
It
appears there are various paths or combination of paths
leading to the aggrandizer personality type.
All
persons in power are not necessarily psychologically wounded.
However, it appears the odds are good.
In exploring cross-cultural child rearing practices, I have not found any assessments of the childrearing experience of leaders of larger tribal groups. I would guess this has not been a ethnographic focus. In much of our early history, children were raised in a multiple caretaker setting. Hence, there would not be the more intense influence of an isolated mother/child dyad described in the etiologies. This leaves cross-cultural narcissistic and Machiavellian personalities and their historic significance an open question. There is one example of looking at a historic aggrandizing figure - Adolf Hitler and his harsh childhood experience - in For Your Own Good by Alice Miller.
I am continuing my research for evidence of childrearing
being a component in the manifestation of narcissism, Machiavellianism and
psychopathology.
The Aggrandizer Personality Type may
arise genetically. In addition it may also be fostered by childrearing
techniques. The two origins may
reinforce each other. In simple hunter/gatherer groups the uniformity of
culture and child rearing plus familiarity of behaviors inhibits the rise of
the aggrandizer. As group populations
increase and resources become more abundant, a diversity of identity and
belonging opens the door for the aggrandizer to arise through genetics and as
well as via childhood experience.
In a global population of seven billion,
there are simply countless niches for the practice of accumulation of power via
manipulation. The underlying
nature/nurture formation of aggrandizers is hardly open to modification or
constraint. The global economics and the
global political interplays dictate consumption and consumerism to maintain the
power of the elite. There is a goal to promote
a world of mini-aggrandizers or mimickers.
We face the convergence of serious factors
– climate change, population overshoot, energy, acidification of the oceans,
species extinction, droughts, floods, massive storms, global environmental
degradation, resource wars - each of these alone has societal challenging
implications much less interlinked set.
The aggrandizers from the peak of the power pyramid and lower if unconstrained
become a deterrent to change in times of societal crisis.
The times we are
facing right now.
Hayden’s Aggrandizer Bibliography
2012 Brian Hayden, Neil Canuel, and
Jennifer Shanse
“What was brewing in
the Natufian? An archaeological assessment of brewing technology in the
Epipaleolithic.” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. DOI
10.1007/s10816-011-9127-y Posted 31 January 2012.
2011 Hayden, Brian and Suzanne
Villeneuve
“A century of
feasting studies.” Annual Review of Anthropology 40:433–449.
2011 Hayden, Brian
“Big man, big heart?
The political role of aggrandizers in egalitarian and transegalitarian
societies.” In D. Forsyth and C. Hoyt (Eds.) For the Greater Good of All:
Perspectives on Individualism, Society, and Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan:
New York. pp. 101–118.
2011 Hayden, Brian
“Feasting and social
dynamics in the Epipaleolithic of the Fertile Crescent.” In G. Aranda, S.
Monton-Subias, and M. Sanchez (Eds.). Oxbow Books: Oxford. pp. 30–63.
2010 Hayden, Brian
“El surgimiento de
cazadores-recolectores complejos. Una visión desde el Northwest Plateau.” In A.
Vila and J. Estévez (Eds.), La Excepción y la Norma. Consejo Superior de
Investigaciones CientÃficas, Treballs d’Ethnoarqueologia 8:87–110, 219–21.
2010 Hayden, Brian and Suzanne
Villeneuve
“Who benefits from
complexity? A view from Futuna.” In T. D. Price and G. Feinman (Eds.) Pathways
to Power. Springer: New York. pp. 95–145.
2010 Hayden, Brian and Suzanne
Villeneuve
“Astronomy in the
Upper Paleolithic?” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21:331–55.
2009 Hayden, Brian
"Funerals as
Feasts: Why Are They So Important?" Cambridge Archaeological Journal
19:29-52.
2009 Hayden, Brian
"The Proof is in
the Pudding: Feasting and the Origins of Domestication." Current
Anthropology 50:597-601, 708-9.
2008 Hayden, Brian
L’Homme et
l’Inégalité. CNRS Editions: Paris
2004 Hayden, Brian
“Sociopolitical
Organization in the Natufian: A View from the Northwest.” In Christophe Delage (Ed.)
The Last Hunter-Gatherer Societies in the Near East. BAR International
Series: Oxford. Pp. 263–308.
2004 Hayden, B., and Ron Adams
“Ritual Structures in
Transegalitarian Communities.” In William Prentiss and Ian Kuijt (Eds.) Complex
Hunter-Gatherers: Evolution and Organization of Prehistoric Communities on the
Plateau of Northwestern North America. University of Utah Press: Salt Lake
City. Pp. 84–102.
2004 Hayden, B., and Sara Mossop
Cousins
“The social
dimensions of roasting pits in a winter village site.” In William Prentiss and
Ian Kuijt (Eds.) Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Evolution and Organization of
Prehistoric Communities on the Plateau of Northwestern North America.
University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City. Pp. 140–154.
2003 Hayden, Brian
“Were luxury foods
the first domesticates? Ethnoarchaeological perspectives from Southeast Asia.” World
Archaeology 34:458–469.
2003 Hayden, Brian
“Hunting and
feasting: Health and demographic consequences.” Before Farming
2002/3–4(3) www.waspjournals
2001 Hayden, Brian
“Richman, Poorman,
Beggarman, Chief: The Dynamics of Social Inequality.” In G. Feinman, and T.
Price (eds.), Archaeology at the Millenium: A sourcebook. Kluwer
Academic/Plenum Publishers: New York. Pp. 231–272.
2001 Dietler, Michael, and Brian Hayden
“Digesting the Feast
– Good to Eat, Good the Drink, Good to Think: An Introduction.” In M. Dietler
and B. Hayden (eds.), Feasts: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives
on Food, Politics, and Power. Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington,
DC. Pp. 1–20.
2001 Hayden, Brian
“Fabulous feasts: A
prolegomenon to the importance of feasting.” In M. Dietler and B. Hayden
(eds.), Feasts: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives on Food,
Politics, and Power. Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC. Pp.
23–64.
2001 Dietler, Michael and Brian Hayden
(eds.)
Feasts:
Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives on Food, Politics, and Power.
Smithsonian Institution Press: Washington, DC.
2000
(Ed.) The ancient
past of Keatley Creek. Volume II: Socioeconomy. Archaeology Press: Simon
Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.
1997 Owens, D’Ann, and Brian Hayden
“Prehistoric rites of
passage: A comparative study of transegalitarian hunter-gatherers.” Journal
of Anthropological Archaeology 16: 121–161.
1996
“Feasting in
prehistoric and traditional societies.” In Polly Wiessner and W. Schiefenhovel
(editors), Food and the status quest. Berghahn Books: Providence. Pp.
127–147.
1995
“The emergence of
prestige technologies and pottery.” In William Barnett, and John Hoopes
(editors), The emergence of pottery. Smithsonian Institution Press:
Washington, D. C. Pp. 257–266.
1995
“Pathways to power:
Principles for creating socioeconomic inequalities.” In T. D. Price and G.
Feinman, Foundation of Social Inequality. Plenum: New York. Pp. 15–85.
1994
“Competition, labor,
and complex hunter-gatherers.” In Ernest Burch, Jr. and Linda Ellanna
(editors), Key issues in hunter-gatherer research. Berg Publications:
Oxford. Pp. 223–239.
___________________________________________________________
Additional Readings
Garrison, W. and Earls, F. 1987. Temperament
and Child Psychopathology. SAGE
Pub. London.
Gilbert, Paul and Andrews,
B. 1998.
Shame: Interperson Behavior, Psycholpathology, and Culture. Oxford U. Press. Oxford.
Hare, Robert. 1999.
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the
Psychopaths Among Us.
Guilford Press.
Massie, H. 1982.
"Affective Development and the Organization of Mother-Infant
Behavior from the Perspective of Psychopathology." In Social Interchange in Infancy: Affect,
Cognition, and Communication, Edited
by Tronick, E. Z. University Park
Press. Baltimore.
Lowen. 1985. Narcissism:
Denial of the True Self.
Lasch, C. 1978. The
Culture of Narcissism. Norton. N.Y.
Lewis, H.B. 1987. The
Role of Shame in Symptom Formation.
Eribaum Ass. Hillsdale, N.J.
Lewis, H.B. 1971. Shame
and Guilt in Neurosis. International
University Press. N.Y.
Lewis, Michael. 1992. Shame-The
Exposed Self. The Free Press. N.Y.
Lynd, Helen Merrell. 1965. On
Shame and the Search for Identity.
Science Editions. N.Y.
Miller, Alice. 1983. For Your Own Good. Farrar
Straus Giroux.
Peristiany, J. G. 1966. Honour
and Shame. University of Chicago
Press. Chicago.
Perris, Carlo; Arrindell, W.A.;
Eisemann, M. editors. 1994. Parenting and Psychopathology. Wiley. N.Y.
Scheff, T. and Retzinger,
S. 1991. Emotions and Violence: Shame
and Rage in Destructive Conflicts. Lexington Books. Massachusetts>
Schieffelin, C. 1985.
"Anger, Grief, and Shame: Toward a Kaluli
Ethnopsychology." In Person,
Self, and Experience. Edited by G.
M. White and J. Kirkpatrick. Univ. of
California Press. Berkeley.
Schneider, Carl. 1977. Shame,
Exposure, Privacy. Beacon. Boston.
Sroufe, L. Alan. 1995. Emotional
development: the organization of emotional life in the early years. Cambridge U.
N.Y. Page 68 for 18 month old
shame.
Tangney, June and Fischer,
Kurt; editors. 1995. Self-Conscious Emotions: The Psychology of
Shame, Guilt, Embarrassment, and Pride.
Guilford. N.Y.
“Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath”
Neuroscientist
James Fallon discovered through his work that he has the brain of a psychopath,
and subsequently learned a lot about the role of genes in personality and how
his brain affects his life.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/life-as-a-nonviolent-psychopath/282271/
The
Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us
About Success. Scientific American: New York, 2012, 261 pp.,
US$26.00, ISBN #978-0-374-29135-8.
Kristofer Thompson,
Department of Psychology, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK.
Robert D. Mather, Department of Psychology, University of
Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK.
“Marianne Williamson and the Elephant in the Living Room”
By Bernhard Guenther
There is one topic that stands like the proverbial elephant
in our collective living room, still unacknowledged, ignored or misunderstood
by many people. It is the
underlying issue for our society and world’s problems. This
is the topic of Psychopathy, especially Psychopaths in places of power and how
it affects our world and society at large. More and more research and studies have
been published that prove the existence of this intra-species predator, yet it
still is being avoided and not sincerely studied and looked at by many
well-meaning people who work actively trying to make this world a better place.
They focus on the symptoms, but not the
underlying causes.
http://veilofreality.com/2014/02/07/marianne-williamson-and-the-elephant-in-the-living-room/
