ABSTRACT
The term “personality” describes the observable and predicable repetitions that individuals consciously and unconsciously utilise under ordinary circumstances to maintain a stable reciprocal relationship between themselves and their environment. There is public interest in understanding a political leader’s personality and its role in determining the leader’s behaviour and decision making. The personality of political leaders plays a crucial role in their attempts to maintain a stable relationship both with those who are in their immediate “entourage” and with the much larger group of people who comprise their “followers”. A political leader may utilise the historical arena to find external solutions for internal, mostly unconscious, needs, wishes and conflicts, and in that case it is the leader’s needs, wishes and conflicts that will modify the emotional and physical state of the followers. Even when many followers are excited about and identify with a transforming leader’s personality, behaviour, and agenda, changes that may result are not typically drastic.
