Leadership for Social Change: John Vasconcellos (D-CA) and the Promise of Humanistic Psychology in Public Life

Abstract

Political and developmental psychologists have long disagreed about the potential for changing basic patterns of personality once they are established in childhood and adolescence. The preponderance of evidence from psychobiographies dealing with political leaders stresses the way in which their personalities and their political roles facilitate ego-defensive rather than ego-supportive modes of growth and adaptation. Humanistic psychology and much of the lifecycle, adult socialization research challenge these pessimistic conclusions, assuming that political leaders, like ordinary citizens, can and will seek to change what is dysfunctional and counterproductive in their profiles and development. John Vasconcellos, an innovative California legislator and leader in the human potential movement for more than 20 years, provides an unusual case study in leadership development because he has consciously and publicly utilized humanistic psychotherapy as a tool of personal and political growth. What have been the consequences-psychologically and politically? What might follow if others made similar choices and did so early enough in their political careers so that there might be long-term effects on how they function as leaders? This article explores these issues, using the career of Vasconcellos as a case study.