Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-j7cmm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-10T03:38:51.539Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ritual Deception: A Window to the Hidden Determinants of Human Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

John O. Beahrs
John O. Beahrs*
Affiliation:
Oregon Health Sciences University, USA Portland V.A. Medical Center, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

Political leaders of all persuasions are known to make public statements of affiliative allegiance with more form than substance, and to disavow political motivations obvious to the public. Such “ritual deceptions” are better understood in the same light as social etiquette—as partly deceptive behaviors that help to bond individuals with conflicting interests. Those who are more open and honest are often punished, more for breaking unspoken rules and taboos than for the actual content revealed. The functions of ritual deception are explicated by sociobiological theory, and the process, by understanding hypnotic transactions. Political deceptions require the active collaboration of subjects, achieved through the same skills used by experienced hypnotists. Deceptive transactions are more likely to occur in internally traumatized societies, and occur along a continuum from ritual deception to overt disinformation. Examples are taken from recent American history. That the content of ritual deception is so close to full awareness suggests its value as a focal point, both for studying the hidden determinants within human politics, and for policy intervention when appropriate.

Information

Type
Politics and Deception
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 1996 , pp. 3 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

References

Alexander, R.D. (1987). The Biology of Moral Systems. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Axelrod, R. (1984). The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Barber, T.X. (1972). “‘Hypnosis’: An Alternative Paradigm.” In Fromm, E. and Shor, R.E. (eds.), Hypnosis: Research Developments and Perspectives. Chicago/New York: Aldine-Atherton.Google Scholar
Barnes, J.A. (1994). A Pack of Lies: Towards a Sociology of Lying. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R.F. (1993). “Lying to Yourself: The Enigma of Self-Deception.” In Lewis, M. and Saarni, C. (eds.), Lying and Deception in Everyday Life. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Beahrs, J.O. (1990). “The Evolution of Post-Traumatic Behavior: Three Hypotheses.” Dissociation 3:15–21.Google Scholar
Beahrs, J.O. (1991). “Volition, Deception, and the Evolution of Justice.” Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 19:81–93.Google Scholar
Beahrs, J.O. (1992a). “Hypnotic Transactions, and the Evolution of Psychological Structure.” Psychiatric Medicine 10(1):25–39.Google Scholar
Beahrs, J.O. (1992b). “Paradoxical Effects in Political Systems.” Political Psychology 13:755–69.Google Scholar
Beahrs, J.O. (1994). “Dissociative Identity Disorder: Adaptive Deception of Self and Others.” Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 22:223–37.Google Scholar
Beahrs, J.O., Butler, J.L., Sturges, S.G., Drummond, D.J., and Beahrs, C.H. (1992). “Strategic Self-Therapy for Personality Disorders.” Journal of Strategic and Systemic Therapies 11(2):33–52.Google Scholar
Berman, L. (1982). Planning a Tragedy: The Americanization of the War in Vietnam. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Bok, S. (1989/1978). Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. New York: Vintage.Google Scholar
Bork, R.H. (1990). The Tempting of America: The Political Seduction of the Law. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Carnegie, D. (1936). How to Win Friends and Influence People. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Churchill, W.S. (1929). The Aftermath: The World Crisis, 1918-1928. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. and Krebs, J.R. (1978). “Animal Signals: Information or Manipulation?” In Krebs, J.R. and Davies, N.B. (eds.), Behavioral Ecology. Oxford: Blackwell Science.Google Scholar
Dennett, D.C. (1988). “The Intentional Stance in Theory and Practice.” In Byrne, R. and Whiten, A. (eds.), Machiavellian Intelligence: Social Expertise and the Evolution of Intellect in Monkeys, Apes, and Humans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eckstaedt, A. (1989). “Ego-Syntonic Object Manipulation: The Formation of a Submissive Relationship.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis 70:499–512.Google Scholar
Ekman, P. (1992). Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage. Second edition. New York/London: Norton.Google Scholar
Erickson, M.H. (1980). The Collected Papers of Milton H. Erickson, M.D. Edited byRossi, E. L.New York: Irvington Press.Google Scholar
Erickson, M.H., Rossi, E.L., and Rossi, S.I. (1976). Hypnotic Realities: The Induction of Clinical Hypnosis and Forms of Indirect Suggestion. New York: Irvington Press.Google Scholar
Fingarette, H. (1969). Self-Deception. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1901/1960). The Psycho pathology of Everyday Life. Edited and translated byStrachey, J.Standard Edition, 6. London: Hogarth Press.Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1920/1979). Group Psychology, and the Analysis of the Ego. Edited and translated byStrachey, J.New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Friedman, S.E. (1992). The Law of Parent-Child Relationships: A Handbook. Chicago: Section on Family Law, American Bar Association.Google Scholar
Fromm, E. (1941). Escape from Freedom. New York: Rinehard.Google Scholar
Gill, M.M. and Brenman, M. (1959). Hypnosis and Related States: Psychoanalytic Studies in Regression. New York: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1959). Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Anchor.Google Scholar
Greenstein, F.I. (1982). The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Haley, J. (1963). Strategies of Psychotherapy. New York: Grune and Stratton.Google Scholar
Halleck, S.L. (1990). “Dissociation and the Question of Responsibility.” International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 38:298–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harcourt, A.H. (1988). “Alliances in Contests and Social Intelligence.” In Byrne, R. and Whiten, A. (eds.), Machiavellian Intelligence: Social Expertise and the Evolution of Intellect in Monkeys, Apes, and Humans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hartung, J. (1988). “Deceiving Down: Conjectures on the Management of Subordinate Status.” In Lockard, J.S. and Paulhus, D.L. (eds.), Self-Deception: An Adaptive Mechanism? Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hilgard, E.R. (1977). Divided Consciousness: Multiple Controls in Human Thought and Action. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Humphrey, N.K. (1976). “The Social Function of Intellect.” In Bateson, P.P.G. and Hinde, R.A. (eds.), Growing Points in Ethology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hyman, R. (1989). “The Psychology of Deception.” Annual Review of Psychology 46:133–54.Google Scholar
Jamieson, K.H. (1992). Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction, and Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Johnson, G.R.(in press). “The Evolutionary Roots of Patriotism.” In Bar-Tal, D. and Staub, E. (eds.), Patriotism. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.Google Scholar
Kriesberg, L., Northrup, T.A., and Thorson, S.J., eds. (1989). Intractable Conflicts and Their Transformation. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.Google Scholar
Kuhn, T.S. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Second edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Layton, E.T., Pineau, R., and Costello, J. (1985). And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway—Breaking the Secrets. New York: William Morrow.Google Scholar
Levy, J.S. (1992). “An Introduction to Prospect Theory.” Political Psychology 13:171–86.Google Scholar
Lockard, J.S. and Paulhus, D.L., eds. (1988). Self-Deception: An Adaptive Mechanism? Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Manchester, W. (1988). The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill. Volume 2, Alone. Boston: Little, Brown.Google Scholar
McDermott, R. (1992). “Prospect Theory in International Relations: The Iranian Hostage Mission.” Political Psychology 13:237–63.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R.W. (1993). “Animals as Liars: The Human Face of Nonhuman Duplicity.” In Lewis, M. and Saarni, C. (eds.), Lying and Deception in Everyday Life. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Nesse, R.M. (1990). “The Evolution of Repression and the Ego Defenses.” Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis 18:260–85.Google Scholar
Orwell, G. (1946/1968). “Politics and the English Language.” In Orwell, S. and Angus, I. (eds.), In Front of Your Nose, Volume IV: The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, 1945-1956. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.Google Scholar
Post, J.M. (1986). “Narcissism and the Charismatic Leader-Follower Relationship.” Political Psychology 7:657–88.Google Scholar
Rogers, R. (1988). Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Sackheim, H.A. and Gur, R.C. (1985). “Voice Recognition and the Ontological Status of Self-Deception.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 48:1365–68.Google Scholar
Sartre, J.P. (1953). The Existential Psychoanalysis. Translated by Barnes, H.E.New York: Philosophical Library.Google Scholar
Schoenfeld, C.G. (1991). “Holmes v. Bork: The Role of Unconscious Thoughts and Emotions in Law and the Politics of Law” [book review]. Political Psychology 12:363–75.Google Scholar
Sheehan, P.W. and Perry, C.W. (1976). Methodologies of Hypnosis: A Critical Appraisal of Contemporary Paradigms of Hypnosis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Spanos, N.P. (1986). “Hypnotic Behavior: A Social-Psychological Interpretation of Amnesia, Analgesia, and ‘Trance Logic.’” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 9:449–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spiegel, D., Hunt, T., and Dondershine, H. (1988). “Dissociation and Hypnotizability in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.” American Journal of Psychiatry 145:301–5.Google Scholar
Steele, S. (1992). “The New Sovereignity: Grievance Groups Have Become Nations unto Themselves.” Harper's 285 (July):47–54.Google Scholar
Trivers, R.L. (1985). Social Evolution. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin Cummings.Google Scholar
Troisi, A. and McGuire, M.T. (1990). “Deception in Somatizing Disorders.” In Stefanis, C.N., Rabavila, A.D., and Soldatos, C.R. (eds.), Psychiatry: A World Perspective. Volume 3. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Volkan, V.D. (1985). “The Need to Have Enemies and Allies: A Developmental Approach.” Political Psychology 6:219–47.Google Scholar
Volkan, V. and Itzkowitz, N. (1984). The Immortal Ataturk. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
de Waal, F. (1989). Peacemaking among Primates. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Watzlawick, P. (1976). How Real Is Real? Communication, Disinformation, Confusion. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Watzlawick, P., Weakland, J., and Fisch, R. (1974). Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Wenegrat, B. (1990). The Divine Archetype: The Sociobiology and Psychology of Religion. Lexington, MA: Lexington.Google Scholar
Werth, F. and Flaherty, J. (1986). “A Phenomenological Approach to Human Deception.” In Mitchell, R.W. and Thompson, N.S. (eds.), Deception: Perspectives on Human and Nonhuman Deceit. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar