Introduction
Some notable historical figures capture the public’s attention and remain long in the people’s memory due to their extraordinary personalities and actions. Cult is one of the fascinating topics because it simultaneously intrigues and scares the audience. The ability to gather a group of people and organize the community that would believe and follow whatever the leader said and make it the priority is truly impressive. However, most cult leaders rarely genuinely care for people and overuse their power over them for personal benefit. Jim Jones is one of the memorable representatives because, by the end of his leadership, he made about 900 of his people commit suicide (Guinn, 2017). No regular person would ever attempt to perform such a horrific act, but some people’s minds work differently. Thus, this psychobiography aims to describe Jim Jones’ personality based on the big five models and analyze the reasons behind his actions and personal traits.
Background
Jim Jones has been in a regular family with a working mother and a father with a disability. He went to school and was interested in religion. His mother despised local churches and confessions, while all the citizens were devoted to the churches, so eventually, Jim was curious about them. Jim demonstrated behavior different from the boys in his town, such as never engaging in fights, loving attention, manipulating people, and holding funerals for dead animals (Guinn, 2017). Jones was also good at oratory and eventually decided to become a priest. Being a very charismatic and charming individual, who could easily make an impression of a deep bond with each person, the leader gained loyal followers.
Later, Jim created a community called People’s Temple in Jonestown, where individuals were completely separated from their regular lives, families, and homes and could only operate within the community. Jones controlled the members and used them for material goods, managing their finances and demanding generous donations for the People’s Temple. This story tragically ended after the mass suicide that included over 900 people considering Jim Jones, some of whom were children (Guinn, 2017). Finally, Jim Jones demonstrated signs of neuroticism such as constant stress, anxiety, and worries about everything. One example is his fear of losing the community, leading to his tragic end and massive suicide.
Big Five Personality Model
In order to get a better perspective on a cult leader’s personality, it is useful to apply the Big Five personality traits model. He was highly open, supported by his desire to try new activities and formats, such as studying to be a priest and creating people’s temples. Jim was completely focused on managing the challenges and was extremely creative when it required a solution to the problem. However, Jones did not act as a conscientious person in the community. While the leader tried maintaining order and structure, he did not take care of the people, mistreated them, and sometimes put them in dangerous situations. Jim lacked scores in agreeableness because he was manipulative, ignored others’ problems and needs, and only cared about his wellbeing (Martin, 2019). Jim achieved that because of his high extraversion, love for attention, and outstanding skills in bonding with people and making himself likable to the public.
Explanatory Framework
Some possible reasons could explain why Jim eventually developed his characteristics and became the person who was capable of the horrific actions. Most of the human personality forms in the period of childhood, and Jones is no exception. His narcissistic disorder is more likely started to develop because of the lack of love that Jim received during his upbringing. His mother never had time to care for the child, and the father barely participated in the son’s life (Guinn, 2017). Moreover, for some period, Jones’ mother would not allow him to come home before she returned from work, and he was left alone and starving on the streets. In addition, Jim’s mother demonstrated improper behavior and even encouraged her child to steal candies from the shop, considering it a demonstration of a strong personality.
There is also a possibility that regarding his religious interest, Jim developed it from the women from the neighborhood who tried to care for him while his mother was at work. Since they were all from different churches, he quickly learned that sharing their interest, mirroring their emotions, and flattering them could provide additional benefits to him from a person (Martin, 2019). That was the moment when Jones started to manipulate people actively. Narcissistic personality disorder, in general, mostly comes from the lack of love and emptiness that the child feels due to the cold and distant parents (Martin, 2019). Maternal approval of some of Jones’s inappropriate actions also made him crave attention through special activities, not necessarily good ones, and made Jim feel less lonely and rejected.
Conclusion
Overall, Jim Jones’ predisposition to develop narcissistic personality disorder from early childhood. Distant parents, encouragement of misbehaving, and lack of love and attention from the family contributed significantly to his character building. In addition, the influence of religion allowed Jim to embrace his uniqueness and receive attention from the public. However, considering the Big Five personality model, Jones was low in conciseness and agreeableness, which implied that Jim actively manipulated people for his benefit and did not care about their feelings. In total, all those factors built a foundation for creating Jim Jones’ personality and led to further negative consequences for others.
References
Guinn, J. (2017). The road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and peoples temple. Simon and Schuster.
Martin, T. (2019). Jim Jones: A Case Study in the Relationship Between Antisocial and Narcissistic Personality Disorders.