Psychoanalytic Assessments of Character and Performanceneglects to ask the purposes to which intelligence is put. That, of
necessity, involves us in a consideration of an individual's motiva-
tions.
Rather than considering traits in isolation, it is useful to consider
a theory of psychological functioning that focuses on broad patterns
of motivation and the more specific patterns of personality and
behavior that develop from it. One advantage of such a theory is that
it provides a theoretical link by which any particular personality
trait might be more firmly anchored in a deeper understanding of its
role in the person's overall psychology. In doing so, it provides some
insight into the ways in which particular traits, viewed in the con-
text of a person's overall psychology, affect or might be more usefully
viewed in relationship to responsibilities of office. A strong intelli-
gence embedded in and shaped by a strong motivation to do what is
"right" will differ from one embedded in a motivation structure
dominated by self-interest.
An obvious candidate for such a theory is psychoanalytic theory.
Early psychoanalytic theory and its more sophisticated successors pro-
vide a broad view of human motivation and psychological functioning.
It is also a framework whose theoretical source is found in everyday
behavior. As a result, it is a theory rich in possibilities for understand-
ing the responsibilities and performance of political leaders.
However, like every other theory, it has several drawbacks as well.
Although all psychoanalysts accept the existence of unconscious
motivation, the importance of early experience as a foundation of an
individual's psychology, and the view that individuals develop stable
and understandable patterns of adult functioning that reflect how
they have been able to integrate their experiences, skills, and cir-
cumstances, there is no single psychoanalytic theory. Some focus on
the primacy of childhood; others stress adulthood. Some focus on the
internalization of object representations; others stress the importance
of interpersonal relations. Some view motivation through the prism
of instinctual drives; others view it through the prism of what it
takes to develop and maintain a coherent, vital sense of self. Green-
stein's (1969) well-taken point is as relevant for different kinds of
psychoanalytic theory as it is more generally for theories of psycho-
logical functioning. The theoretically sophisticated and contextually