President Traian Basescu is perceived as the most domineering leader among the public personalities of Romania, but also the most aggressive, suspicious and incompetent, according to an IRES survey on the public’s perception of the psychological profile of public personalities, a survey published yesterday in ‘Evenimentul Zilei’ daily shows. For this survey IRES chose four potential presidential candidates – Victor Ponta, Crin Antonescu, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu and Catalin Predoiu, plus President Traian Basescu and Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Director George Maior.
The Head of State is the most domineering leader by far, scoring 3.99 points on a scale of 1 to 5. PDL candidate Catalin Predoiu is at the opposite end, scoring just 2.65. Premier Ponta is not perceived as being domineering either, his result being slightly above that of Predoiu. The Romanian President is also considered the most aggressive politician (scoring 3.57), being followed by Crin Antonescu and Mihai Razvan Ungureanu. The Premier and the director of SRI are perceived as the most non-aggressive leaders.
A positive trait strongly associated with the president is courage. Basescu dominates the rankings with a score of 3.96, followed by George Maior (3.54) and Mihai Razvan Ungureanu (3.41). The public perceives Catalin Predoiu as the least courageous of them all.
The current head of state is at the top in what concerns ego, ambition, adaptability but also incompetence. Antonescu is considered just as incompetent as the Romanian President, while Mihai Razvan Ungureanu is perceived as the most competent.
The Head of State is also considered the most suspicious of the six leaders measured by IRES, scoring 3.10, followed closely by PSD President Victor Ponta (2.94) and PNL President Crin Antonescu (2.86). In the case of the other personalities the value is in the ballpark of around 2.50.
George Maior scores 3.81 when it comes to discipline, being followed by Ponta (3.49) and Mihai Razvan Ungureanu (3.48), while Basescu and Antonescu are at the opposite end, scoring 3.08 and 3.07 respectively.
In what concerns nonconformism, the six personalities measured by IRES score pretty closely. George Maior is in the lead (3.06), followed by Victor Ponta (2.94) and Traian Basescu (2.93), while PDL First Vice President Catalin Predoiu is perceived as a conformist. Another trait mostly associated with Maior is caution – 3.92. He is followed by Mihai Razvan Ungureanu and Basescu, while the PNL President is perceived as being the least cautious.
When it comes to instability, Crin Antonescu is in the lead with 2.97, followed closely behind by Victor Ponta (2.94). Catalin Predoiu and George Maior are considered the most stable leaders from a psychological standpoint. Ungureanu and Maior are perceived to be the most restrained, Basescu as the least restrained, while Ponta is the first when it comes to sociability.
