Premium
Individual Characteristics of Political Leaders and the Use of Analogy in Foreign Policy Decision Making
Author(s) -
Dyson Stephen Benedict,
Preston Thomas
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2006.00006.x
Subject(s) - analogy , sophistication , politics , context (archaeology) , value (mathematics) , social psychology , sociology , psychology , foreign policy , positive economics , epistemology , political science , social science , computer science , law , history , economics , philosophy , archaeology , machine learning
The linkages between individual characteristics of political leaders and their usage of historical analogy during foreign policy decision‐making episodes were examined. The individual characteristics studied were conceptual complexity and policy expertise, while usage of analogy was studied in terms of the sophistication and source of historical comparisons. The great majority of the analogies used by low‐complexity individuals were nonsophisticated, whereas high‐complexity individuals consistently used more sophisticated analogies. Low‐complexity individuals drew analogies solely from their own generational and cultural context, while high‐complexity leaders drew their analogies from a wider range of sources. More expert leaders drew from their personal experiences to a marginally greater degree than less expert individuals but, interestingly, both types of individual relied on generally available rather than personally experienced events for their analogies. The value added of the approach is to demonstrate that different types of leaders use history differently during political decision making.