[Noon Salon] Professor Kim Kyung-il on Trump’s Psychology and How to Respond
Kim Kyung-il, a professor of psychology at Ajou University, said Trump is difficult to explain using established personality types alone. Many classification systems for human behavior rely on historical data, he explained, and as society becomes more complex and diverse, more cases fall outside their explanatory reach. Kim identified as a key criterion whether a person is focused solely on personal interest or also cares about the interests of others and coexistence.
Kim said the purpose behind an action matters more than the act of unsettling and making another person anxious in itself. He linked to what psychology calls a “malicious” disposition the attitude of being drawn to an option that causes another person greater pain, even when a better outcome could be achieved another way. Rather than assigning Trump a categorical moral label, he said, it is necessary to examine his self-centeredness and the motives behind behavior that unsettles others.
Kim described Trump as “calculatedly impulsive.” Rather than weighing a series of possible outcomes after acting, people of this type may focus on the other person’s immediate next reaction—whether they feel hurt or afraid. Combined with a narcissistic belief in one’s own superiority, this can lead to an abrupt change in behavior when others do not respond as expected, making it difficult to predict outcomes through a single scenario.
When dealing with an impulsive leader, the speed and timing of a response matter more than immediately signaling agreement or opposition, Kim advised. Delaying the immediate reaction the other person wants can help avoid being fixed as a target for confrontation or harassment, while buying time to observe their next move. However, one should not wait so long that the other person feels their position is being ignored. If ten countries or organizations are responding, he suggested responding at roughly the pace of the seventh or eighth.
Kim said people like Trump do not necessarily act the same way in every position. Strong drive can be useful when breaking with bad established practices, but the harmful effects of power can grow if the qualities and duties required of a national leader are not properly defined. He said leaders should not be viewed simply as people at the top of an organization’s promotion ladder; the roles of presidents and world leaders need to be redefined.
Asked about the possibility that Trump might refuse to accept defeat in a U.S. election, Kim cited the case of chess champion Bobby Fischer. Actions that disregard established rules can win public support for a time, he explained, but that support can also disappear rapidly once a threshold is crossed. Rather than asserting a particular outcome, Kim said, it is important to prepare multiple scenarios and develop response plans tailored to the other party’s actions.