Populist personalities? The Big Five Personality Traits and ...

Undoubtedly the two most consistently found relationships are the positive effect of conscientiousness on right-wing voting and the positive ... Searchfor: BlogAdmin August24th,2015 Populistpersonalities?TheBigFivePersonalityTraitsandpartychoiceinthe2015UKgeneralelection 11comments |12shares Estimatedreadingtime:5minutes BlogAdmin August24th,2015 Populistpersonalities?TheBigFivePersonalityTraitsandpartychoiceinthe2015UKgeneralelection 11comments |12shares Estimatedreadingtime:5minutes 12 Shares Towhatextentare decisionsattheballotboxdrivenbyavoter’spersonality?Inthisarticle, JamesDennison examinestheassociationbetweenpersonalitytraitsandpartychoiceintheUK’s2015generalelection.Hefinds,amongotherthings,that UKIPandGreenvotersarethemostclosedandopen-mindedrespectively. Whypeoplevoteforcertainpartiesremainsoneofthemostregularlyinvestigatedareasofpoliticalscience.Eversincetheearliestworksonvoting,explanationsforpartychoicehavegenerallyfocusedonthevoter’ssocio-demographicposition,theirpersonalbackgroundandpeergrouporthepoliticalandeconomiccontextinwhichtheylive. Morerecently,scholarshaveturnedtolessconventionaldeterminantsofpartychoice.Oneespeciallypopulardeterminanthasbeenpersonality,mostoftenmeasuredasthe‘BigFivePersonalityTraits’.Inthisarticle,Ifirstconsiderwhethervotinginthe2015generalelectionfollowedtheassociationbetweenthepersonalitytraitsandpartychoiceaspredictedbytheliterature.Second,Iconsiderwhetherpersonalitytraitspredictvotingforthenewer‘protest’,oreven‘populist’,parties. Althoughanumberofpsychologicalframeworksexisttocomprehensivelydescribeindividuals,theBig5hascometodominatethefieldoverthelast20years.Thesefivetraits–agreeableness,conscientiousness,extroversion,neuroticismandopenness–havebeenshowntosuccessfullypredictarangeofhumanactivityfromfinancialdecisionstohealthylifestylestopoliticalbehaviourandaredescribedinTable1,below.TheBigFivearetypicallymeasuredusingquizzessuchastheonehere. Table1: The‘Big5’PersonalityTraits(adaptedfromGerberetal,2011) Conscientiousness Sociallyprescribedimpulsecontrolthatfacilitatestask-andgoal-directedbehavior Extroversion Energeticapproachtosocialactivity Emotionalinstability Tendencytowardsneurosis,negativityandanxiety,asopposedtoeven-tempered Opennesstoexperience ‘thebreadth,depth,originalityandcomplexityofanindividuals’mentalandexperientiallife’ Agreeableness Apro-socialandcommunalorientationtowardothers   Thesuccessinmatchingpersonalitytraitswithpartychoiceandideologieshasbeenmixed.Undoubtedlythetwomostconsistentlyfoundrelationshipsarethepositiveeffectofconscientiousnessonright-wingvotingandthepositiveeffectofopennesstoexperienceonleft-wingvoting.Conscientiousindividualsaretheorisedtobemoreconservativebecausetheytakegreaterheedofsocialnorms,valuingorderandaccomplishmentsthataresociallyproscribed.Open-mindedindividualsaremoreacceptingofunconventionalsocialbehaviorandunorthodoxeconomicpoliciesthataregenerallyassociatedwiththeleft. Therehasbeenreasonablyconsistentevidencethatathirdtrait,emotionalinstability,oftencalledneuroticism,increasesone’schanceofleft-wingviews.Emotionallyunstableindividualsaremoreanxiousabouttheireconomicfuture,moredesirousofstatecontrol,andarelesslikelytoviewthestatusquoinpositiveterms–allofwhichtheoreticallyincreasesthechanceofleft-wingattitudes. Extroversionandagreeablenesshaveproventobelessclearlyassociatedwithpoliticalpreferences.Theevidencethatexistsregardingextroversionpointstowardsaslightleaningtowardsconservatism–withextrovertsexhibitingmoreorthe‘tough-mindedness’thatiscompatiblewithright-wingpolicies.Agreeablenessistheonlytraittopointinoppositepoliticaldirectionsonsocialandeconomicmatters,withsomeevidencesuggestingthathighlyagreeableindividualsprefersocialconservatismandleft-wingeconomicpolicies,waryastheseindividualsareofthedisturbancestosocialandeconomicharmonythatliberalizationmaypresent. TheBritishElectionStudyincludesdataontheBigFivePersonalityTraits,eachofwhicharemeasuredona10-pointscale,aswellaspartychoiceinthe2015GeneralElection.Istandardizetheresultsusingz-scorestoallowforbettercomparability.TheresultsareshownbelowinFigure1. Figure1:Personalitytraitsandpartychoicein2015 Source:BritishElectionStudy2015. Note: StandardizedMeanPersonalityScores(z-scores,fadedindicatesnon-significance) Votersofthetwomajorparties,LabourandtheConservatives,followfairlypredictablepatterns.AspredictedbytheliteratureandshownwithRepublicanandDemocratvoters,Conservativesaresignificantlymoreconscientiousthanthemeanrespondent,theoppositebeingtrueforLabourvoters.TheaverageConservativevoterisalsosignificantlylessopentoexperiencethough,surprisingly,Labourvoterstendedtobebarelyanymoreopentoexperiencethantheaveragevoterin2015. Emotionalinstability,thethirdpersonalitytraitmostcommonlyshowntoaffectpartychoice,followsapredictablepattern,withConservativevotersshowntobelessunstablethanthemeanvoter,andLabourvotersmoreunstable.Labourvotersarealsoshowntobemoreagreeablethanthemeanand,infact,themostagreeablegroupofvoters,whileConservativesarethemostextroverted,aspredictedbytheliterature. Overall,thedifferencesbetweenLabourandConservativevotersonconscientiousness,open-mindednessandemotionalinstabilityareexactlyastheliteraturewouldpredict, withtendenciesforextroversionamongstConservativevotersandagreeablenessamongstLabourvoters. Howdovotersoftheotherthreepartiesfare?First,weshouldconsiderthepropensityamongstthevotersoftheGreensandUKIPforrelativecentrismoneconomicmatters,suchasredistribution,butradicalismonsocialissues,suchasimmigration.LiberalDemocratvotersin2015werehighlycentristoneconomicissuesandcentre-leftonsocialissues.[1]Giventhis,theassociationsbetweenpartychoiceandconscientiousnessandopen-mindednesscomeaslittlesurprise,exceptperhapsinthestrengthoftheireffect. UKIPandGreenvotersarethemostclosedandopen-mindedrespectively,suggestingthatattitudestoimmigrationareparticularlyaffectedbythistrait.Greenvotersarefarlessconscientiousofsocialnormsthananyotherparty,withUKIPvotersaroundthenationalaverage.LiberalDemocratvotersrankinthemiddleofallfivepartiesonbothtraits.Onemotionalinstability,UKIPvotersaremoreneuroticthanwemightexpectandGreenvotersscoresespeciallyhighlyonthistrait.Finally,onagreeablenessandextroversion,thetwotraitswiththeleastevidenceofassociationwithpartychoiceintheliterature,weseeinterestingresults.Green,LiberalDemocratandUKIPvotersarealllessagreeableandlessextrovertthanthevotersofthemajortwoparties.Disagreeablenessandintroversionmaythereforebekeypersonalitytraitsoftheprotestvoter. Toconclude,researchintotherelationshipbetweenpersonalitytraitsandpartychoiceremainsnascent,particularlyoutsideoftheUnitedStates,wheremultipartysystemsoffergreatercomplexity.Thisisdespitethestabilityofthesetraitsinindividualsacrossthelifecourseandconsistentresultsintheliterature,particularlyonconscientiousness,opennesstoexperienceand,increasingly,onemotionalinstability. TheexpectedresultswerereplicatedamongstLabourandConservativevotersatthe2015UKGeneralElection.Thenewerpartieslessconsistentlyfollowtheseassociations.Eithertheirvotersaremoreextreme,inthecaseofveryhighopennessamongstGreensandlowopennessamongstUKIPmembers,orvotersofallnewerpartiesvarytogetherfromthemajortwoparties–withGreens,KippersandLibDemssharingatendencyfordisagreeablenessandintroversionamongsttheirvoters.Unsurprisingly,individualslesslikelytogowiththeflowandlessenergizedbybigsocialorganisationshavebeenthefirsttojumpshipfromLabourandtheConservative partytotheprotestparties. AbouttheAuthor JamesDennison isaPhDResearcherattheEuropeanUniversityInstituteandaJuniorVisitingScholaratNuffieldCollege,Oxford.Hisresearchinterestsincludepoliticalparticipation,BritishandEuropeanpoliticsandlongitudinalmethods.HeiscurrentlytheResearchAssistantonaBritishAcademyfundedprojectregardingthe2015generalelection. [1]Z-scoreson(1)redistribution:Labour:0.42,Green:0.36,LiberalDemocrat:0.02,UKIP:-0.06,Conservatives:-0.61(2)immigration:Green:0.61,LiberalDemocrat:0.34,Labour:0.19,Conservatives:-0.26,UKIP:-0.82 Abouttheauthor BlogAdmin PostedIn: Featured |Partypoliticsandelections 11Comments Pingback:EasyArgumentativeEssayMattersforcollegeCollegestudents–WintersAir.com Pingback:Thesetbacksthatshakeusobscureafarbrighterstory–Reacle Pingback:InvestigationPaperWriting:Whicharetheessentialsofagreatbookreview?–MyBlog Pingback:TheTruthAboutTheLeft|GoingPostalDevelopmentSite Pingback:Etsilevraivainqueurdel'électionprésidentielleétaitÉmileCoué?-MEDIAVOR Pingback:AreRemainersbrighterthanBrexiteers?—EdWest Pingback:Politicalstance,intelligenceandpersonality.–somethingintrospective Pingback:#GE15+TheMedia–thestoryoftheelections|RealMedia-TheNewsYouDon'tSee Pingback:AreextrovertsmoreEurosceptic?HowpersonalitiesshapeattitudestowardtheEU:DemocraticAuditUK Howcanyouexpectanyonetotakethisresearchseriouslyifyoudon’ttellusthesamplesize!Iwillassumefornowthatyouarehidingthesamplesizebecauseitissosmallitwouldinvalidateyourconclusionsofsignificance.Ifyoucan’treporteventhismostbasicofstatisticalinformationthenIhopeyoulookforwardtocompilingthelatestHeatmagazinepollofsexiestcelebsonceyoufinishyourtimeinacademia. Reply Interesting.Ihavesomequestionsfromapurestatisticalpointofview.Thereislittleinformationprovidedaboutthestatisticalmethodusedbuthowcanaz-scoreof0.32(asforGreenOpenness–takingthemostextremedifferencedisplayedinFigure1)beregardedasasignificantresult?Whatwasthelevelofsignificance?Hasmultiplicityissuesbeenaddressedindefiningthelevelofsignificance(thereareintotal30comparisons,i.e.greatriskoffalse-positiveresultsifthisissueisnotaddressed)?Further,usingz-score(i.e.calculatingthearithmeticmean)foranordinalvariablewith10outcomesasbasisfortheinferencemaybefarfromoptimal(itwouldbeinterestingtoseetherawfrequenciesforallquestionsinthatthevariabilitywouldbetransperent;alsoIfindnoinfoaboutthesamplesize–isthisprovidedelsewhere?) Reply LeaveaCommentCancelreply Youremailaddresswillnotbepublished.Requiredfieldsaremarked*CommentName* Email* Website Notifymeoffollow-upcommentsbyemail.Notifymeofnewpostsbyemail. 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