Cult o personality

A 1950 Cheenese propaganda poster showin a happy family o five enjoyin life unner the image o Mao Zedong. The caption abuin the picture reads "The happy life Chairman Mao gives us".

A cult o personality arises when an individual uises mass media, propaganda, or ither methods, tae create an idealized an heroic public image, aften through unquestionin flattery an praise. Cults o personality are uisually associatit wi dictatorships. The sociologist Max Weber developed a tripartite classification o authority; the cult o personality haulds parallels wi what Weber defined as 'charismatic authority'.

A cult o personality is similar tae hero worship, except that it is established bi mass media an propaganda. Housomeivver, the term mey be applied bi analogy tae refer tae adulation o releegious or non-political leaders.

While the cult o personality generally applies tae the enhancement an promotion o a political or releegious doctrine, it stands tae reason that it is an aa assertit in iveryday situations whaur popularity is uised tae advocate conformity tae philosophies an lifestyles, even products an attitudes bi way o peer pressure an herd mentality.