Childhood experiences with parents can predict later political behavior

Evidence

The master himself contributed one of the earliest microhumanistic psychobiographies in his analysis of Leonardo da Vinci (Freud, 1910). Psychobiographies are occasionally done on non-political personages such as Martin Luther (Erikson, 1958), but political leaders have become the most popular subjects (Greenstein, 1969; Glad, 1973; Runyan, 1993). A seminal contribution was the George and George (1956) analysis of how Woodrow Wilson’s boyhood experiences with a demanding father laid down a personality style that led to his fractious behavior in later authority situations, as illustrated by his recurring problems in dealing with the Princeton University trustees, the New Jersey legislature, and the U.S. Senate. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 342

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Childhood emotional tones get reapplied to adult situations — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 436; Early childhood emotional tones persist as abstract templates applied throughout life — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 434; Parents’ racist normalization and views often precede a son’s radicalization — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America:…, 310