PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF POLITICAL POWER

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of political power in the context of political psychology.The theoretical definitions of “power”, “politics”, “political power” are studied and clarified. An important aspect of the study was the analysis of the psychological origins of political power and the unconscious human desire for power (“will power”, according to the concept of F. Nietzsche). The specificity of power relations in the field of politics is studied through the prism of the psychological characteristics of the personality – “political man” (homo politicus).Based on the latest data of modern political psychology, the danger of “corruption by power” is proven, which creates serious threats of turning a politician into a dictator. During a long stay of a person in a leading political position, his psychological and even physiological characteristics change. Political power becomes a source of super-profits and a means of accumulating material and financial resources, which acts as an additional drug and causes even greater need and dependence. As a result, the norms of equal political communication in the state are violated, the factors of information propaganda and manipulation of public consciousness are strengthened.The events of modern political history in Ukraine and the world, the strengthening of dictatorial regimes and the unwillingness of their leaders to cede power gives grounds to speak of unlimited political power as one of the most powerful incentives for the emergence of addictive mental and behavioral personality disorders, along with the use of chemical substances.