The Victimhood Oriented Leader: Tendency for Interpersonal Victimhood among Powerholders

Well-established research on the psychological experience of social power and leadership joins the novel concept of TIV in Tammy Rubel-Lifschitz, Rahav Gabay, Boaz Hameiri, and Arie Nadler?s essay on The Victimhood Oriented Leader. The Tendency for Interpersonal Victimhood among Powerholder. Given the assumption that individuals with a high-TIV are more likely to interpret conflicts as hurtful episodes in which they are the ongoing victims, the paper shows how they attribute the hurtful behavior to the malicious intentions of the offender and develop a desire for revenge that will compensate them for their suffering. Power is a crucial factor in this regard. When high-TIV individuals are in low-power positions, their ability to translate these thoughts and desires into action is limited by various constraints. On the contrary, when high-TIV individuals obtain positions of power and leadership, they have access to various resources, and limitations for action are reduced. The paper presents what happens ? in cognitive and behavioral terms ? when high-TIV individuals reach leadership positions by suggesting that victimhood-related cognitions and behaviors can potentially have disastrous effects when leaders possess them.