Nathaniel Branden
The psychology of self-esteem
Took rational egoism into psychology.
Heterodox ObjectivistOne of 729 ideologies · enter the Objectivist hall →- Role
- Psychologist
- Era
- 1930–2014
- Region
- Canada / US
- Social band
- Heterodox
- Placement
- +50 · −90 · +30
§ Where Nathaniel Branden stands
3 axesBranden was a free-market individualist throughout his career. In the 1960s he set out Rand's case for laissez-faire in the Nathaniel Branden Institute's courses and in essays for her collections The Virtue of Selfishness (1964) and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966). After the break his writing turned to psychology rather than economics, and he never developed an economic programme of his own.
His politics followed Rand's: individual rights as absolute, the initiation of force as the cardinal evil and government confined to police, courts and defence, the doctrine taught in his Basic Principles of Objectivism lectures from 1958. In later years he criticised the dogmatism and authoritarian atmosphere of the movement he had helped to build.
Socially Branden was a secular individualist who made personal autonomy his life's subject. The Psychology of Self-Esteem (1969) treated self-esteem as a basic human need grounded in rational self-responsibility, and The Psychology of Romantic Love (1980) explored love as an expression of individual self-esteem. He later faulted Objectivist culture for encouraging emotional repression and harsh moral judgement.
How close are you to Nathaniel Branden?
Three statements, one per axis. Answer them and we’ll drop you on the compass next to them.
§ The story
HistoricalNathaniel Branden (1930–2014), born Nathan Blumenthal in Brampton, Ontario, was a Canadian-American psychotherapist and writer. After writing to Ayn Rand as a teenage admirer of The Fountainhead, he met her in 1950 and became her closest associate and, from the mid-1950s, her lover, with both their spouses informed. In 1958 he launched the lecture series that became the Nathaniel Branden Institute, the main vehicle for teaching Objectivism, and he co-edited The Objectivist Newsletter and The Objectivist with Rand in the 1960s.
The partnership ended in 1968, when Rand learned of his affair with a younger woman, publicly repudiated him in The Objectivist and split the movement. Branden moved to Los Angeles and built a second career as a therapist, publishing The Psychology of Self-Esteem (1969) and later The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem (1994), which made him a founding figure of the self-esteem movement. His memoir Judgment Day (1989) and Barbara Branden's biography of Rand exposed the affair and fuelled lasting arguments over the cult-like character of Rand's inner circle.
Notable for
- 01'The Psychology of Self-Esteem'
- 02Co-led the early Objectivist movement
- 03Founded the self-esteem movement
Key works & moments
- 1950Meets Ayn Rand after writing to her as a young admirer of The Fountainhead.
- 1958Launches the lecture series that becomes the Nathaniel Branden Institute, teaching Objectivism in New York.
- 1962Co-founds The Objectivist Newsletter with Rand.
- 1968Rand breaks with him and denounces him in The Objectivist; the institute closes.
- 1969Publishes The Psychology of Self-Esteem, launching his career as a writer on self-esteem.
- 1994Publishes The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem.
§ Minds closest to Nathaniel Branden
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§ Also in the Objectivist hall
Enter the hall →§ Common questions
4 answersWhat was Nathaniel Branden's political ideology?
Nathaniel Branden was an Objectivist and later an independent advocate of individualism: on the 99ideologies three-axis compass, a Heterodox Objectivist. Economically he was clearly pro-market (+50), teaching Rand's case for laissez-faire in the 1960s. On governance he was strongly libertarian (−90), holding that government should do no more than protect individual rights, and socially he leaned progressive (+30), a secular psychologist who made personal autonomy and self-esteem his central themes.
Was Nathaniel Branden left-wing or right-wing?
Right-leaning on economics, but closer to a libertarian individualist than to a conservative. Branden defended laissez-faire capitalism and a minimal state, positions associated with the right, yet he was secular, wrote openly about romantic love and focused on personal psychology rather than tradition or religion. His influence after 1968 came mainly through the self-esteem movement, whose ideas reached readers across the political spectrum.
Did Nathaniel Branden found the self-esteem movement?
He is widely regarded as its founding figure. Branden's The Psychology of Self-Esteem (1969) argued that how people judge their own competence and worth shapes every area of life, a theme he developed through The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem (1994). He criticised later versions of the movement that stressed unconditional praise, insisting that genuine self-esteem rests on practices such as living consciously, self-responsibility and personal integrity.
Which minds are closest to Nathaniel Branden?
On the 99ideologies three-axis compass, the minds closest to Nathaniel Branden are Howard Roark (98% alike), Ayn Rand (97% alike) and John Galt (96% alike). The furthest is Pol Pot (3% alike).