psychology-health

Whether it was an unconscious reaction to sexual tension, or a manifestation of repressed aggression, President Clinton’s indiscretions almost cost him his job, his reputation and his wife and child. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory identifies sexuality and aggression as underlying motivators for human behavior, and due to the continual stress which goes with the office of the President of the United States; it is possible the President was not completely in charge of his own faculties at this time. Freud also spoke of three structures of the mind; the id, the ego, and the superego. Looking more closely at the driving forces behind each of these, one could speculate that the pleasure driven id was working alone in Clinton’s case, with no regulatory oversight from either the ego or the superego. The President’s actions clearly follow Freud’s description of the id which is that “Pleasure derives from the reduction of tension in the immediate gratification of impulses. The id, furthermore, is the driving force behind primary process thinking—the loose, fluid, and irrational kind of thinking that we associate with dreaming. Primary process thought is motivated by the sexual and aggressive instincts”(¶.2).

If one examines President Clinton’s actions using Carl Roger’s humanistic theory, it can be put most simply by saying that Clinton was “striving to actualize and perfect the self” (¶.1), albeit in a maladaptive way. To become a fully functional, self-actualizing person, inner strivings for advancement and the respect of others is a large part of what any human needs to feel good. Clinton looked to fulfill his need for positive regard in a place where it was guaranteed to be found. Monica Lewinsky was an impressionable young woman who also made bad choices, and this was possibly due to her being intimidated or at least flattered by the President’s attention. As a result of their affair, both Lewinsky and President Clinton lost the respect of millions of people worldwide. Rather than rely on their own self-worth and capabilities, Clinton and Lewinsky’s decisions offered only the experiences which Rogers said were “contrary to actualization—those experiences that do not promote growth and fulfillment”(¶.4).

Like Rogers, Abraham Maslow’s humanistic views can be used to sum up the Clinton and Lewinsky fiasco. Based on Maslow’s hierarchal system of needs, where one level of needs must be attained before moving to the next, the President’s strivings for “Achievement, competence, approval, recognition, prestige, status”(Figure 7.4) had already been achieved, right after the fulfillment of belongingness and love; given this fact, the final step of self-actualization in the hierarchal system was where Clinton reached for the wrong goals. Maslow’s research was the result of studying healthy minded individuals, and Clinton fell one step short of attaining the list of needs from the perspective of a healthy minded person.

Henry Murray’s diversity theory can also be used to describe former President Clinton’s behavior and attitude during those years. Murray’s idea was that “human beings are motivated by many different things”(¶.1), such as physiological needs, and opportunities and constraints which he called press. The interaction of both groups of motivators created the thema, the sum total of both physical and psychological needs, and influences resulting from situations or created by a particular environment. Murray argued that “In general, the way in which a person achieves a goal may be partly determined by traits, such as extraversion–introversion. But the nature of the goal itself is more likely determined by needs”(¶.8). It is here one could ask the obvious question of former President Clinton: “what needs did you have which were not being met?” He had a great job, he had a loving wife and family, he had the respect of millions of people world-wide; is it possible to forget one’s own identity in the process? It is difficult to know with any accuracy what motivates a human being to behave the way they do. In spite of all the greatness a person can achieve in one short lifetime, the unimaginable experience of being the most powerful person in the world apparently has its disadvantages. Fortunately, the whirlwind of media attention has subsided with regard to the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, much to the relief of many, and one can only hope that Ms. Lewinsky has found her path to contentment. The fact that she is no longer the focus of any public attention would suggest this is the case. As for President Clinton; he eventually settled into an active life of public service, and continues to work for the good of human kind, with his dignity remarkably intact.

Perhaps it takes a more powerful motivator than we could possibly imagine, being able to continue  life’s journey in a positive direction after such a horrendous experience, than it does to be the President of the United States. Carl Rogers offers the perfect explanation for what Clinton may have been searching for when he spent time with Ms. Lewinsky; “The person builds a self-image commensurate with what other important people, who provide the person with positive regard, urge him or her to adopt”(¶.6).  It is human nature to take the path of least resistance; perhaps this time with Lewinsky was Clinton’s easiest way back to discovering his own identity after living a surreal existence.

Reference

 McAdams, D. (2006). The person: A new introduction to personality psychology. (4th ed.).

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