Psychology Today (2014) - How Mad was Hitler? What motivated Adolf Hitler's destructive behavior?

[TomCADem]

Interesting article from 2014 that really sheds light on what might motivate Trump.


https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evil-deeds/201412/how-mad-was-hitler

Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party perpetrated one of history's most evil deeds by instigating World War II and the Holocaust, which led to tens of millions of lives lost or irreparably damaged. What drove Hitler to act in such a monumentally murderous, horrific (and ultimately self-destructive) way? What with the recent rise of the Nazi-like ISIS movement (see my prior post), not to mention the much less publicized proliferation of neo-Naziism in Europe and the U.S., it may be beneficial to take a closer look at what influences someone like Hitler to choose the particular destructive path he did.

What do we really know about Hitler's personality? Perhaps the most famous psychological study of Hitler was done by Henry A. Murray, former director of the Harvard Psychological Clinic, at the behest of the American OSS during the war. (See a summary of his original report here.) Dr. Murray points out that though there is very little information available about Hitler's childhood, he is said to have been sickly and frail. His father was described as "tyrranical" and physically abusive. According to psychoanalyst Michael Stone, Hitler's father reportedly beat both Adolf and his older brother with a whip regularly, meting out daily whippings to the more rebellious Adolf, who, by the time he turned 11, "refused to give his father the satisfaction of crying, even after 32 lashes." Here we can begin see how Hitler as a young boy was overpowered by his father and confronted with a situation he could not control, except by controlling his own emotions and actions. Stone further suggests that Hitler's hatred for his father fueled his hatred of Jews, who, after his father died when Adolf was only fourteen, served as scapegoats for his residual fury. And, I would add, as a receptacle for the defensive projection of Hitler's shadow (see my prior post). According to Murray, the adult Hitler was a "counteractive type," by which he meant a person primarily motivated by resentment and revenge in response to prior narcissistic wounding and profound feelings of inferiority. Pathological narcissism develops as a compensatory defense against these painful wounds and inferiority feelings. There is no question that Hitler's personality exuded pathological narcissism or what I have called psychopathic narcissism (see my prior post), and may have met modern diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.

Much has already been written regarding power, and Hitler's ravenous hunger for it. In Hitler's case, he chose to pursue power through politics. Of course, Hitler is certainly not alone in this motivation among politicians in general. But what differentiates the run of the mill power hungry politician from someone like Hitler craving world domination? Or from those conscientious politicians who, having attained some modicum of power, primarily use it for good rather than evil? The truth is, we all, whether consciously or unconsciously, implicitly or explicitly, directly or indirectly, seek some measure of power and control in life. To assert our will in the world and to influence what happens to us and others. However, Hitler, like so many victims of physical or sexual abuse during childhood, may have experienced an extraordinary sense of helplessness and powerlessness as a boy, stemming mainly from his poor relatonship with his exceedingly domineering and controlling father. It is frequently this terrifying feeling of total helplessness and powerlessness in childhood that drives what Nietzsche called this exceptional "will to power" later in life. As depth psychologist Alfred Adler pointed out, such tragic circumstances engender "inferiority feelings" which, in the form of "increased dependency and the intensified feeling of our own littleness and weakness, lead to inhibition of aggression and thereby to the phenomenon of anxiety." In turn, this becomes what Adler referred to as "masculine protest," consisting of a compensatory striving for superiority (to counteract feelings of inferiority), aggression, ambition, avarice and envy, coupled with constant "defiance, vengeance, and resentment."

[KG]

1. ok, so, he was abused. what about the throngs who thought his madness was a good idea?

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Not all Germans thought whether Hitler's decisions were good. Perhaps they didn't think at all.

You need to understand the social psychology of the pre-modern Germans. They understood, accepted, and wanted authority for order and precision. Not to mention, authoritarians made their decisions for them. Thus, they avoided responsibility when things went wrong, because they never made the choices like in a democracy. They were used to Kaisers (a/k/a emperors), Bismarck, Hindenberg, etc. whose personae were strong, decisive, and ready to step on anyone to get what they wanted.

This collective bending of the will permeated German society. The wives and mothers were subservient and obedient to their husbands and children were the same to their parents, but particularly to their fathers.

It is of little wonder why a nation followed Hitler like lemmings. It's how they had been doing it for centuries. There was no critical thinking as far as protest of a bad idea or something that went against their religious teachings. They used cognitive dissonance when Hitler contradicted himself, showed his madness during his speeches. The throngs simply trusted him because he showed up and promised them food, employment, and financial security.

[Igel]

3. Much of this applies to many people, I'd think.

Extraordinary sense of helplessness as a child leading to feelings of inferiority, "intensified feeling of our own ... weakness," which leads in turn to "masculine protest". Of which part is animus against members of an ethnic group perceived to have all the power and responsible for your hurt.