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LISA MULLINS: I'm Lisa Mullins, and this is The World. Nikolas Sarkozy has been President of France for not quite two years, but he's already made an impression. It's not so much about his policies as about his personality. “Sarko”, as the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby tells us, is quite a character.

EMMA JANE KIRBY: From his explosive temper tantrums to his fondness for bling, the French President makes excellent material not only for comics but also for psychologists. Dr. Sebastian Bolle, who writes for the French edition of the scientific journal “Mind”, has been working on a psychological profile of Sarkozy, which reveals he's a compensatory narcissist.

SEBASTIAN BOLLE: Compensatory Narcissism is people who are afraid of not being the best. Sarkozy wants to be loved. He wants to be approved, to be admired. He wants to feel himself useful to others, to always be the center of attention, and he wants the world to concern his value.

KIRBY: Last summer, President Sarkozy was furious when a head of an interview at the TV station Franscoie, he was ignored by the technician. Being snubbed, it seemed, was more than he could bear. Dr. Sebastian Bolle, again.

BOLLE: In compensatory narcissists, if they feel challenged by someone, this is the automatic reaction: aggression. It's really an emotional reaction. It's not a political reaction. And he cannot master such reactions. I mean, we have seen him react this way with people on the streets as well. When he gets the feeling that he's not loved and not approved, it's emotionally unbearable.

KIRBY: Whatever's on the French leader's mind, he tends to say it out loud – here, telling a heckling bystander at last year's Paris Agricultural Show, to get stuffed. Not exactly presidential behavior, admits political analyst Chatrou Latrie.

CHATROU LATRIE: Sometimes, he thinks for the good of France and sometimes he has very personal reactions. The goal was France, and Sarkozy makes things very personal. He's sometimes like a child. That's a different way to cover it.

KIRBY: At the recent G20 meeting, President Sarkozy made sure he grabbed the headlines when he threatened to walk out of the summit. American newspapers accused him of being rude to President Obama. Professor Steve Achovich is a Professor at the American University in Paris.

STEVE ACHOVICH: To be frank, I think elite opinion there was a perception that the President of France was inelegant – let's put it in French terms. President Sarkozy has a, let's call it a “talent” for announcing fireworks. But I think we can say it's very important for politicians to project an image of self-assurance and popularity. And when one is in the shadows of a larger figure, of course, that doesn't help.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: So I would suggest that for the reporters in the room, if you want to know something about elections, you should talk to the President of France.

KIRBY: And it doesn't help perhaps that Obama is a natural crowd-puller. During his stay in France, Dr. Sebastian Bolle noticed how President Sarkozy was constantly at Obama's side – a hand on his arm or shoulder, gently propelling America's new President.

BOLLE: Why does Sarkozy touch people, and especially people like Obama? It is a behavior of dominance. And so Sarkozy approaches this man and touches him. It's a way to say, “I'm the dominant one. I can touch you.” And I guess that Obama doesn't like that.

KIRBY: Perhaps President Sarkozy can take comfort from the fact that he's in good company. Scientific studies show he has the same psychological profile as both Mussolini and the former American president, Jimmy Carter.

MULLINS: That report from the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby, in Paris.

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