Experts analyze Spitzer’s thinking
Experts analyze Spitzer’s thinking
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the simplest question in the world, but it was the one repeated over and over Monday after the staggering news broke about Gov. Eliot Spitzer: What in heaven’s name was the man thinking?
Yet if the New York governor 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 who found themselves 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.”