Tyrannical Minds: Psychological Profiling, Narcissism, and Dictatorship

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An incisive examination into the pairing of psychology and situation that creates despotic leaders from the author ofMurderous Minds.

Not everyone can become a tyrant. It requires a particular confluence of events to gain absolute control over entire nations.

First, you must be born with the potential to develop brutal personality traits. Often, these are combined in The Dark Triad of malignant narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy, as well as elements of paranoia, and an extraordinary ambition to achieve control over others.

Second, your predisposition to antisocial behavior must be developed and strengthened during childhood. You might suffer physical and/or psychological abuse, or grow up in trying times.

Finally, you must come of age when the political system of your country is unstable. Together, these events establish a basis for a rise to power, one that Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Saddam Hussein, and Muammar Qaddafi all used to gain life-and-death control over their countrymen and women. It is how Osama bin Laden and the leaders of the Islamic State hoped to gain such power.

Though these men lived in different times and places, and came from vastly different backgrounds, many of them felt respect for each other. They often seemed to recognize their shared, dark personality traits and viewed them as strengths. Only in rare cases did they show signs of mental disorders.

Getting inside the heads of foreign leaders and terrorists is one way governments try to understand, predict, and influence their actions. Psychological profiles can help us understand the urges of tyrants to dominate, subjugate, torture and slaughter.

Tyrannical Mindsreveals how recognizing their psychological traits can provide insight into the motivations and actions of dangerous leaders, potentially allow to us predict their behaviorand even how to stop them. As strongmen and authoritarian leaders around the world increase in number, understanding the most extreme examples of tyrannical behavior should serve as a warning to anyone indifferent to the threats posed by political extremism.

Reviews

"A timely, ambitious volume." * The Washington Post *
"An interesting and fluent analysis of the president." * The New York Times *
"Haycocks writing is clear and permeated with insight. A thoughtful and significant contribution to the art of psychologically profiling political leaders from afar." * Publishers Weekly *
"A compelling analysis of the mental processes of notable tyrants." * Kirkus Reviews *
"It is a volume of monumental importance that should be required reading for every citizen and beyond." -- Bandy X. Lee, M.D., MDiv., Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale School of Medicine
"A compelling read." -- Dr. Farid Holadouee, Clinical psychologist, host of "In Session with Dr. Farid"
"A very useful contribution to the currentmise en scene." -- Daniel Feinberg, M.D. (Ret.), Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology
"Some books reward you with a deeper understanding of the world and of the people who threaten that world.Tyrannical Mindsis one of them." -- Charles C. Ouimet, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor and Faculty Scholar in Neuroscience, The Florida State University College of Medicine

Author Bio

Dean A. Haycock, PhD,is a science and medical writer, who earned a PhD in neurobiology from Brown University and studied at The Rockefeller University in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Paul Greengard. He has been published in many science publications and is the author ofMurderous Minds: Exploring the Criminal Psychopathic BrainandCharacters on the Couch: Exploring Psychology Through Literature and Filmalong with several other books. He lives in New York.