NEW YORK — If New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is proved to have been involved in a prostitution ring, it would hardly be the first time a powerful, brilliant person in public life has done something dizzyingly self-destructive.
Why do otherwise smart, successful people do such risky things? For psychologists and political analysts dissecting the Spitzer story, it was a question of the chicken or the egg: In such situations, does the risky behavior precede the powerful job? Or does something about being in power cause the behavior?
Many speculated that it was a combination of the two. “We’re all human,” said Leon Hoffman, a psychoanalyst in New York. “These urges are so, so common. Whether it’s a prostitute or a mistress that one chooses, that’s another question.”
And yet, Hoffman said, there may be something about the aura of power surrounding a prominent politician that makes him feel potentially immune from consequences.
“There’s the psychology of the exception,” said Hoffman, former chairman of the American Psychoanalytic Association’s public information committee. “People in power sometimes feel they can do things that us, mere mortals, are forbidden to do. There’s a sense, as with adolescents, that ‘I won’t get caught.’”
“In order to be in such a high-profile position, you have to believe that what you are doing is innately right,” said psychologist Renana Brooks of Washington, D.C. “Anything that isn’t right, you may blot out. You can’t be tortured by guilt or indifference. It’s just virtually impossible to function at this high a level without limiting the amount of introspection you can do.”
Doug Muzzio, professor of public affairs at Baruch College, said he was torn between believing Spitzer’s situation could be a case of a deep-seated compulsion or one of simple hubris.
“It could be both — they’re not mutually exclusive,” Muzzio said. “Now that would be a really fatal cocktail. In any case, there’s an element of recklessness and risk-taking that is just breathtaking.”
Analysts say people often don’t consciously think about such risks as getting caught, even highly intelligent people.
Chicago psychoanalyst Mark Smaller believes one can find useful parallels in the case of certain patients, from all walks of life, who exhibit a striking capacity to compartmentalize risky, unethical or even illegal behavior, a process known as the “splitting” of part of the personality.
“They can be otherwise completely law-abiding, sensible, reliable people,” Smaller says. “Often the behavior in question is caused by intense anxiety, stress in the workplace or home, or feeling overwhelmed.” And often, he says, the behavior can involve sex, drugs, or something like shoplifting.
“They compartmentalize to the extent that they don’t feel any sense of shame or guilt,” Smaller said. “Until,” he adds, “they get caught.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
