By Leslie Pratch
Personality Structure and Dynamics
Self-Description of Motivational Priorities. The motivational differences on the self-report measure of personality reflected the early relationships between the executives and their fathers. Low integrity executives had conflicts with their fathers. This condition contributed to their exhibitionistic, rebellious, and impulsive motivational structures. They appeared to reject the presence and legitimacy of authority. They trusted only themselves, believing that whatever impulsive action they took would be successful and worthy of praise. The profiles of the high integrity executives indicated that compared to the low integrity group they were more empathic and respectful of others. Their respect for their fathers carried over to the value they placed on authority figures as well as being able to function as inspiring authority figures for others. Motivation appeared to go hand in hand with the coping styles that the two groups developed.
Semi-Projective Motivational and Coping Tendencies. The higher integrity executives tended to have higher scores overall on a semi-projective measure of active coping. The findings were mixed, as some of the low integrity executives also had very high scores on this measure. In terms of the content of the motivations on this measure, the low integrity executives focused on the need for independence and fear of dependence. Their high self-esteem bordered on the grandiose. Their grandiosity was related to the exhibitionism (desire to be the center of attention) expressed on the self-report measure of personality. They mistrusted others and lacked respect for them. In contrast, the high integrity executives stressed the commitment to finding a balance between their needs and those of others as well as pursuing goals within ethical guidelines.
Underlying Motivational and Coping Tendencies. The major difference between the two groups appeared in their projective stories. As previously noted, the story-telling projective technique provides information about the foundation of personality structure. The overwhelming majority of the low integrity group, regardless of overt aspects of personality, told problematic stories. In five of the six cases, the stories gave evidence of interpersonal issues, personality disorganization, and problems with self-esteem and maintaining an integral sense of self. On the surface level, the low integrity executives were self-adulating and consciously flaunted their needs for autonomy as strengths. Yet in their projective stories such tendencies led to unresolved conflicts with authority figures and failure to find satisfactory ways to relate to others or to promote the self adaptively. By contrast, the high integrity executives consistently were able to imagine ways of integrating altruistic and self-actualizing motives. The foundation of integrity seemed most observable in the expressed fantasies of the executives, on the covert measures of personality.
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Leslie Pratch, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist from the Northwestern Medical School with an M.B.A. in Strategy and Finance from Chicago Booth and a B.A. in Religion from Williams College. She works with boards of directors of public companies as well as private equity investors to assess and develop executives. She can be reached at (312) 464-7919 or leslie@pratchco.com or www.pratchco.com.
