"Right Man" Syndrome
How some men become abusive and tyrannical - mostly towards their spouse and children...
Sci-Fi author A. E. Van Vogt’s “Right Man” theory has struck many as one of the most significant developments in psychology since Freud.
Briefly: in reading reports of divorce cases, Van Vogt became aware of how often they involved a personality-type that he labelled the Right Man or the Violent Man. Such men had an obsession with being in the right; under no circumstances could they acknowledge the possibility that they might be wrong.
And if someone is tactless enough to try to force them to recognize it, they explode into violence. In the home they behave like tyrants, demanding total submission and obedience from wife and children. The least suspicion of infidelity or disloyalty, no matter how ill-founded, is enough to drive them into a frenzy.
Yet they themselves are perfectly capable of sexual lapses - sexual conquest is important to their self-esteem—and expect the partner to treat these with tolerance.
In short, the Right Man is a man whose whole life revolves around his sense of his own importance; the least challenge to this strikes him as unforgivable.
Since our social lives have to be governed by rules of politeness, his colleagues and acquaintances may not even notice that he is a Right Man. But those who live in close proximity to him become accustomed to having to live according to his rules, or to encounter the full force of his resentment.
Right Men are made, not born. "Rightness" involves a degree of self-deception; it can happen little by little, over many years: the fabrication of excuses for convincing oneself that certain painful misjudgements never happened, that it was the fault of other people... Dogmatism is substituted for open-mindedness, bulling for persuasion, etc, etc.
If you're with a "Right Man", leave them as fast as you can.
