Psychology of Charismatic Followers
- 1 December 1975
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychological Reports
- Vol. 37 (3) , 759-770
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1975.37.3.759
Abstract
An operational psychological definition of charisma is possible on the basis of Freud's projection theory. This shows that (a) the social sources of charisma lie in object-loss, (b) the intense love of the follower for the leader is the result of projection, and (c) the experience of the leader's qualities as uncanny is the result of the follower's inability to make his conscious aware of the unconsciously undertaken projection. Three cases are examined: those of the followers of pre-Exile Judaic prophets, of Jesus, and of Hitler.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Freud's Totem Theory as Complement to Max Weber's Theory of CharismaPsychological Reports, 1974