don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

A wellness lifestyle has many qualities, some more widely recognized than others. For example, anyone even vaguely aware of the wellness concept would associate a strong sense of personal responsibility, excellent fitness and good nutritional habits with wellness. Other common associations with this choice of a positive lifestyle would be the ability to create and sustain supportive environments, a high degree of resilience, the practice of critical thinking skills and a host of desired psychological features, such as a good sense of humor, an optimistic outlook and great curiosity about ways to add meaning and purpose in life. In summary, much about wellness is easy for almost anyone to recognize.

But what about personality types? Are there certain attitudes and dispositions that, when exhibited consistently, are or should be associated with non-wellness? If we link some personality types WITH wellness, might others represent its opposite, namely "worseness?" If some personalities contribute to and seem supportive of well-being for everyone around them, isn't it also true that some can cast a pall on their surroundings?

My response would be "Yes" to such hypothetical questions. Consider a few characteristics of the second type of personality, the toxic characters. These are the people who tend to make life, let alone health (and happiness), difficult for everyone. I refer to those who:

• Engage in over-the-top aggressive rages.
• Are blinded by self-righteousness.
• Demonstrate little capability of being self-critical or self-analytical in any fashion.
• Are zealous in pursuing policies.
• Have a drive for absolute power.
• Are aggressive and manipulative in pushing their world-view.
• Have no appreciation of the equality of others. They see themselves as superior.
• Are amoral in their thinking, usually prejudiced.
• Are typically conventional in their lifestyle.
• See themselves running the world.
• Have a desire to dominate others.
• Have a tendency to be amoral in behavior.
• Are often nasty and mean-spirited bullies.

Not a flattering picture, and not a profile most would associate with well-being. This non-wellness personality type, characterized as "authoritarian," describes the Bush Administration. That's the view of John Dean, as described in his new book, Conservatives Without Conscience. Dean's assessment is based on personal knowledge of many of the characters, as well as a review of studies done shortly after the Second World War on infamous "authoritarian personalities" like Hitler, Stalin and others. Dean connects the findings to leading lights in the Bush Administration, the Republican Congress and other leading figures from the Religious Right. Besides the president and Dick Cheney, personality types featured include Tom DeLay, Donald Rumsfeld and Newt Gingrich. The result is a composite personality profile of the American government. Pretty scary.

When politicians like Tom DeLay assert that they are on "a mission from God, divinely inspired, doing God's work and restoring moral authority to earth," it should cause wellness advocates to wonder: Maybe we should spend more time studying personality types and less getting everyone to exercise more, eat better and look on the bright side.

What do you think?

Be well. Always look on the bright side of life anyway.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MEANING DOMAIN under the skill area of relationships. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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