Handbook of Psychology, Volume 5, Personality and Social Psychology

610 Personality in Political Psychology

STRUCTURAL ATTRIBUTES OF PERSONALITY

Structural attributes, according to Millon (1990), “represent a

deeply embedded and relatively enduring template of im-

printed memories, attitudes, needs, fears, conflicts, and so on,

which guide the experience and transform the nature of ongo-

ing life events” (p. 147). Millon (1986, 1990) has specified

four structural attributes of personality, outlined in the follow-

ing subsections. Where relevant, equivalent or compatible

formulations in the field of political psychology are noted.

Self-Image

Self-image,located at the phenomenological level of ana-

lysis, denotes a person’s perception of self-as-object or the

manner in which people overtly describe themselves (Millon,

1986; 1990, pp. 148–149).

This domain accommodatesself-confidence,an element of

decision style in Hermann’s (1980, 1987) conceptual scheme.

It also offers an alternative theoretical basis for construing

Renshon’s (1996b) character domain ofambition,derived

from Kohut’s (1971, 1977) psychoanalytic self theory.

Object Representations

The domain ofobject representations,located at the phenome-

nological level of analysis, encompasses the inner imprint left

by a person’s significant early experiences with others—in

other words, the structural residue of significant past experi-

ences, composed of memories, attitudes, and affects, which

serves as a substrate of dispositions for perceiving and respond-

ing to the social environment (Millon, 1986, 1990, p. 149).

This domain accommodates Renshon’s (1996b) character

attribute of relatedness,which is steeped in object-relations

Assessment Risk analysis

Psychological political forecasting

Developmental causal analysis

Biogenic factors

Experiential history

(Millon, 1996)

Functional personality attributes

Expressive behavior

Interpersonal conduct

Cognitive style

Regulatory mechanisms

(Millon, 1990, 1996)

Experiential filters

Training or expertise

Specific interests

(Hermann, 1978, 1980, 1987)

Situational constraints

Historical antecedents

Immediate situation

(Smith, 1968, 1973)

Cultural context

Structural personality attributes

Self-image

Object representations

Morphologic organization

Mood or temperament

(Millon, 1990, 1996)

Tactical performance modalities

Biophysical

Behavioral

Phenomenological

Intrapsychic

(Millon, 1990, 1996)

Strategic performance modalities

Existence: pain–pleasure

Adaptation: passive–active

Replication: other–self

Abstraction: cognitive

(Millon, 1990, 1994a, 1996)

Figure 24.1 A generative conceptual model for assessing personality and political

performance.

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