الفهرس 
abstractOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 279 |  |  |
| | | from | 279 | | |
Abstract
The aim of this study is to use speech errors (as a verbal means of communication) and body gestures (as a non-verbal means of communication) to investigate the psychological aspects of George W. Bush’s character, within the theoretical framework of the Connectionist Theory (Dell et al., 1999). Bush’s character is selected for being highly controversial, having received the lowest approval rating in 2008 and the highest approval rating after the September 11 attacks. To attain the aim of this study, a psycholinguistic approach is adopted with a mixed research design. The major research question that this study attempts to answer is: what can Bush’s speech errors and body gestures reveal about his character? The data collected comprise (a) thirty-six speech errors made in spontaneous speeches, (b) two videos including Bush’s accusations to Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction, and (c) some photographs showing Bush’s ways of dominating others. The main results of the study can be summed in the following points. (1) Bush’s phonological and morphological errors, caused by the psychological priming, revealed the perplexity and confusion he experienced. (2) Bush’s Freudian slips — caused by psycho-physiological factors, such as fatigue, excitement, and distraction — revealed the fact that he was not an open outright president as he repressed many thoughts and feelings more than he has shown. (3) Bush excessively made use of blinking and lip licking, revealing that a deceptive message was being delivered. (4) Bush has two types of smiles: fake and genuine. The genuine smiles were not given to those whom he loved, but rather, to those whom he could dominate and control, such as some of the Arab and Western presidents and officials.