Was Saddam Hussein Like Adolf Hitler? A Personality Disorder Investigation
نویسندگان
چکیده
The present study used an informant method of psychiatric assessment to evaluate Saddam Hussein, and these results were compared to a posthumous assessment of Adolf Hitler. Eleven Iraqi adults who lived under Hussein’s influence for a median of 24 years completed the Coolidge Axis II Inventory, a measure of 14 personality disorders. The mean consensus among the 11 raters was r = .57. It revealed that Hussein probably reached diagnostic threshold for the sadistic (T score M = 81.0), paranoid (T score M = 79.3), antisocial (T score M = 77.4), and narcissistic (T score M = 74.2) personality disorders. The correlation between the consensus profile for Hussein and a consensus profile of 5 Hitler experts was r = .79, indicating a very strong similarity between the two profiles. It was concluded that Saddam Hussein had many of the same personality disorders or their features as Adolf Hitler, although sadistic features were stronger in Hussein than Hitler. It appeared that a “Big Four” personality disorders constellation emerged for these two dictators, and they were sadistic, antisocial, paranoid, and narcissistic. It was also found that Hussein might have had some traits or features of paranoid schizophrenia. Implications for diplomacy and negotiations with persons with similar personality profiles are proffered.
منابع مشابه
Is Kim Jong-il like Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler? A personality disorder evaluation
A psychological profile was developed on North Korean leader Kim Jong-il based on a South Korean psychiatrist’s evaluation of 14 personality disorders in DSMIV-TR and of schizophrenic and psychotic symptoms. The psychiatrist, considered an expert on Kim Jong-il’s behavior, completed the informant version of the standardized, DSM-IV-TR aligned, 225-item Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI). The res...
متن کاملUnderstanding Madmen: A DSM-IV Assessment of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler’s personality was investigated posthumously through the use of an informant version of the Coolidge Axis II Inventory (CATI), which is designed for the assessment of personality, clinical, and neuropsychological disorders. Five academic Hitler historians completed the CATI. The overall mean inter-rater correlation was moderately high for all 38 CATI scales’ T scores (median r = .72...
متن کاملShould Politicians Stop Using Analogies? Whether Analogical Arguments Are Better Than Their Factual Equivalents
In political argumentation, analogies are often used to convince an audience of one’s views. For example, in political debates leading up to the Iraq War, one such analogical argument was that Saddam Hussein was like Hitler and therefore Saddam should be forcibly ousted. But are all analogical arguments really convincing? In this paper we investigate whether analogical arguments are actually mo...
متن کاملHitler’s Jewish Physicians
The mystery behind the behavior of infamous personalities leaves many open questions, particularly when related to the practice of medicine. This paper takes a brief look at two Jewish physicians who played memorable roles in the life of Adolf Hitler.
متن کاملAdolf Hitler had post-encephalitic Parkinsonism.
Adolf Hitler had Parkinson symptoms in 1934, at age 45 years. He may have had transient symptoms in 1923, at age 34 years. Young-onset parkinsonism, during the 1920s, favored a diagnosis of post-encephalitic rather than idiopathic parkinsonism. Hitler had oculogyric crises, phenomena only associated with post-encephalitic parkinsonism. In addition, he had dystonic facial spasms, palilalia and a...
متن کامل