The Psychological Assessment of Political LeadersNixon's speech showed evidence of depression during the Watergate
scandal.
- Angry disposition. Speakers with angry dispositions frequently
become irritable during interviews. Occasionally they explode if
challenged by the interviewer. In such cases the use of qualifiers may
disappear completely. In the heat of extreme anger, all evidence of
indecisiveness vanishes. Another characteristic of angry discourse is
extreme negativity. In some samples of angry speech, the use of neg-
atives may be as much as five times that of normal speech. Other
findings worthy of mention are the use of rhetorical questions and
direct references, indicating an aggressive engagement of the lis-
tener. A more complete discussion of the speech pattern associated
with anger can be found in Weintraub 1981 (159-60). Angry speech
is unusual for world leaders, who generally try to present a calm
appearance to their listeners. - Emotionally controlled speakers. Emotionally controlled individu-
als tend to have low scores in most or all of the feelings categories.
Speakers who are perceived as expressive or warm have high scores in
the feelings categories. - Oppositional trait. The speech of oppositional or stubborn
speakers is characterized by the presence of many negatives. In the
psychiatric populations we have studied, impulsive speakers have
used negatives more frequently than any other patient group (Wein-
traub and Aronson 1964). - Controlling behavior. This personality trait is verbally reflected
in at least two ways. Controlling speakers are frequently emotionally
controlled, that is, they use feelings categories infrequently. To avoid
finding themselves in an uncontrolled situation, controlled speakers
try to prepare for interviews by limiting journalists' questions to cer-
tain topics for which they have carefully studied. Such preparation
will be revealed by a low frequency of qualifiers. - Histrionic behavior. Since this trait suggests the dramatic, the
category that lends itself best to the expression of exaggeration—
adverbial intensifies—is frequently used by charismatic leaders to
hold the attention of an audience. Eisenhower used more adverbial
intensifies than the other post-World War II presidents. - Passivity. The most useful verbal reflection of passivity is
probably the frequent use of the personal pronoun me. Me is almost