Levinson’s theory of adult development emphasised the important role a mentor plays. What about the anti-mentor? Perhaps negative role models are as important or more important than the positive ones.
Although I scored only 24 on the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (putting me towards the autistic side of average but comfortably within the compass of normal), I’ve nevertheless always shown a slightly antisocial bent by being more impressed by people I dislike than people I like.
Sketchily grasping Levinson’s contribution after a hurried tutorial from a learned Psychologist (Helen), it seems Levinson was talking about managing the transition from youth to adulthood. This theory of the anti-mentor covers the whole lifespan and I’m clinging to the title for rhetorical effect alone.
Perhaps your actions and decisions are informed more by people you would not like to emulate as much as it is by those you admire. Statistically this makes sense because, unless you have very low standards and expectations for yourself, there must be far more people you encounter who you find objectionable in some or other respect than people who you regard highly and who strike you being worthy of emulation. This is certainly the case for me and I’d name them if it wasn’t for our antique libel laws.
Every time you make a significant decision you may worry at how things would have turned out if only you had taken another option. For a readable fictional treatment of this fundamental existential problem, try the very fine The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Without being able to see all potential futures we need some sort of help and this is where the anti-mentor comes in. To guide us in our decisions and to confirm us in the way we go we need to identify people we disregard, dislike or better still, loathe, who have been faced with a similar choice - and then choose the option they didn’t.
The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says that at any decision point the Universe bifurcates and both options occur. There is a universe in which Schrödinger’s cat lived and one in which it died. The anti-mentor in any situation is like a doppelganger in an alternative universe, plodding their mistaken path to confirm you in your choice.
