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Cited by 59History, Medicine, and LeadershipPersonality Traits and PsychologyPersonality Disorders and Psychopathology

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The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump: A Psychological Reckoning

McAdams, Dan P.·2020
DOI 10.1093/oso/9780197507445.001.0001
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Abstract

The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump provides a coherent and nuanced psychological portrait of the 45th president of the United States. Drawing on biographical events in Trump’s life and on contemporary research and theory in personality, social, and developmental psychology, the book explores the personality traits and psychological dynamics that have shaped Trump’s life, with an emphasis on the strangeness of the case—how Trump again and again defies psychological expectations regarding what it means to be a human being. The book’s central thesis is that Donald Trump is the episodic man. He lives in the moment, outside of time, without an internal story to connect the discrete scenes in his life. As such, Trump perceives himself to be more like a superhero or a primal force, supernatural and timeless, rather than a flesh-and-blood human being with an inner life, a remembered past, and an imagined future. Trump’s psychological status as the episodic man helps us understand both Trump’s appeal (in the minds of millions) and his failings. The book’s interpretation of Trump sheds new light on Trump’s charisma, his deal-making, his volatile temperament, his approach to personal relationships, his narcissism, and his emergence as a new kind of authoritarian leader in American history.

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Crossref · 10.1093/oso/9780197507445.001.0001

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  • The argument for the absence of a narrative identity in Trump's personality makeup draws from many different incidents in his life and many different sources.

    “The argument I make for the absence of a narrative identity in Trump's personality makeup draws from many different incidents in his life and many different sources (McAdams, 2020).”

    From Narrative Identity and the Redemptive Self: An Intellectual Autobiography, with Occasional Critique (2024) · cites this paper as McAdams, 2020

  • Trump has no narrative identity at all, or at best a starkly depleted one.

    “In The Strange Case of Donald J. Trump: A Psychological Reckoning (McAdams, 2020), I argue that Trump has no narrative identity at all, or at best, he has a starkly depleted one.”

    From Narrative Identity and the Redemptive Self: An Intellectual Autobiography, with Occasional Critique (2024) · cites this paper as McAdams, 2020

  • Trump has no story; he has never constructed an inner narrative, redemptive or otherwise, to make sense of his life in time.

    “The story for President Donald J. Trump could not be more different, for Trump has no story. Whereas Bush ultimately found himself to be trapped in his own highly redemptive life narrative, Trump has never constructed an inner narrative redemptive or otherwise to make sense of his life in time.”

    From Narrative Identity and the Redemptive Self: An Intellectual Autobiography, with Occasional Critique (2024) · cites this paper as McAdams, 2020

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Metadata

Authors
McAdams, D. P.
Affiliations
Northwestern University (US)
Corresponding author
McAdams, Dan P.
ORCID
McAdams, Dan P.
Publisher
Oxford University PressNew York
Published
2020-03-16
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780197507445.001.0001
OpenAlex
W4239366574
Cited by
59
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 5
FWCI
11.14
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › History, Medicine, and Leadership
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
Keywords
Donald Trump, personality traits, narcissism, charisma, authoritarian leadership, political psychology, negotiation, interpersonal relationships, political appeal

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