USPP
Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics
A Profiler Describes Ségo and Sarko
Professor Pascal de Sutter,* an expert
“in political psychology” at NATO, asked one of his American colleagues to compare
the personality of the two candidates
Aubrey Immelman is one of the best profilers in the
world. His political psychology techniques are used by the CIA. He agreed “to
examine” Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy. He worked from the data (see
framed) I forwarded to him, without knowing the identity of the candidates and
without knowing that one of the two was a woman.
He sent me a comparative graph (see opposite). How should it be interpreted? On several points, the socialist candidate [Royal] and the leader [Sarkozy] of the UMP [Union for a Popular Movement] have similar profiles. That’s not surprising for people occupying similar positions.
They are both ambitious, dominant, “killers.” Royal is clearly an Alpha wolf in ethological terms, a leader of the pack. However, she obtains a higher score than Sarkozy on “meticulousness.” That means she has a more conscientious personality, more righteous, more reliable than the candidate of the UMP.
On the other hand, Ségolène Royal obtains a lower score than Nicolas Sarkozy on “extraversion,” which constitutes a certain handicap, because voters generally penalize introverts (compare the Chirac–Balladur or Chirac–Jospin contests). On “ambition,” the graph shows Sarkozy at a much higher level than his socialist adversary – at a practically “dysfunctional” level.
The graph also shows that, in contrast to Sarkozy, Royal has a personality that naturally has empathy for others – unless, of course, it is a rival. She is less “dominant” than Sarkozy, who is near a “dysfunctional” level.
In conclusion, Royal is less “excessive” and more balanced. Compared with other profiles developed by American profilers, one finds similarities between her personality and that of a Bill Clinton, whereas Sarkozy is closer to a George W. Bush. That is particularly evident in the large difference in the elevation of scale 10 in the graph, which refers to “instability.” Sarkozy obtains a very high score on this scale, which is not very compatible with a position that demands level-headedness. The graph thus seems to show that Royal’s personality is better adapted to the position of president.
It should be noted, however, that these conclusions are those of an American profiler and a Belgian-Canadian psychiatrist (myself) who are by no means immersed in French policy and are not politically “of the left.”
* Pascal de Sutter teaches psychology at
the University of Louvain and is the author of “The madmen
who lead us”
(Arenas).
Methods of the CIA
Aubrey Immelman based his analysis on materials
provided by five psychologists (including Pascal de Sutter). This team studied
biographies of and interviews with the two candidates, using “Millon’s method”
(another prominent American psychologist). This
system of analysis,
popular in the United States – particularly in intelligence services – is based
on a battery of 230 questions that screen for various personality traits. By
using these same techniques, Aubrey Immelman developed a portrait of Bush before his
election, describing him as a man “who has only a superficial grasp of complex
issues and who is vulnerable to errors of judgment.” He also predicted that
Clinton “would be troubled by ethical questions because his seductive character
contained the seeds of his own undoing.”
Le Nouvel Observateur
(p. 22)
WEek of April 19, 2007
Page maintained by Aubrey Immelman
www.csbsju.edu/Research/Sarkozy-Royal-Profile.html
Last updated May 30, 2007