Is Mahinda Rajapaksa Suffering From The Complex Of “Excessive Self-Love “?

By Prasad Mohotti -April 26, 2015 

Dr. Prasad Mohotti MD

George Orwell said in his famous novel, Animal Farm “that all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’’, this is relevant not only during the Stalin’s period in Russia, but to any person who tries to control others by political or any other means.

In the human kingdom, some have leadership qualities in their personality. Others feel comfortable, to be guided by a leader.

Politicians as a group, usually have strong desire for leadership. Politicians always try to convince fellow human beings that they can do a better job than others.

This raises the question: Are politicians a special breed of Homo sapiens? Are they behaviorally different from ordinary people you meet in the street or work place? The answer to this question is,” yes”

Sociologists and psychologists believe that certain personality types are more common among leaders, especially among political leaders.

It is a common belief among sociologists and psychologists, that most politicians have some degree of “excessive self-love” which is called Narcissism. The term ‘narcissism,’ stems from Greek mythology, where Narcissus, the hunter who fell in love with his own reflection in the water. Narcissus was unable to leave the beauty of his own reflection, ultimately Narcissus drowned due to excessive self-love. The core features of Narcissistic personality is that, they have excessive preoccupation with their own success, power and brilliance coupled with a singular lack of empathy for others.

Dr. Pepper Schwartz, a sociologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, shed more light on this. He questioned: “How many of us would have the desire, much less the ability, to promote ourselves ceaselessly? You have to do that as a politician. It’s an amazing level of self-love … and a need for affirmation. Politicians always have to make others believe that they could do a better job than others.