Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The relations of HEXACO personality factors and religiosity with political orientation were examined in responses collected online from participants in 33 countries (N = 141 492). Endorsement of a right–wing political orientation was negatively associated with Honesty–Humility and Openness to Experience and positively associated with religiosity. The strength of these associations varied widely across countries, such that the religiosity–politics correlations were stronger in more religious countries, whereas the personality–politics correlations were stronger in more developed countries. We also investigated the utility of the narrower traits (i.e. facets) that define the HEXACO factors. The Altruism facet (interstitially located between the Honesty–Humility, Agreeableness, and Emotionality axes) was negatively associated with right–wing political orientation, but religiosity was found to suppress this relationship, especially in religious countries. In addition to Altruism, the Greed Avoidance and Modesty facets of the Honesty–Humility factor and the Unconventionality and Aesthetic Appreciation facets of the Openness to Experience factor were also negatively associated with right–wing political orientation. We discuss the utility of examining facet–level personality traits, along with religiosity, in research on the individual difference correlates of political orientation. Copyright © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology

Keywords

HEXACO religiosity political orientation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abrahamson

A. C.

, Baker

L. A.

, & Caspi

(2002). Rebellious teens? Genetic and environmental influences on the social attitudes of adolescents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1392–1408. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022–3514.83.6.1392.

Akrami

, & Ekehammar

(2006). Right–wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. Journal of Individual Differences, 27, 117–126. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614–0001.27.3.117.

Altemeyer

(1998). The other “authoritarian personality”. In Zanna

M. P.

(Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 47–91), 30. New York: Academic Press.

Ashton

M. C.

(2017). Individual differences and personality (3rd ed.). San Diego: Academic Press.

Ashton

M. C.

, Danso

H. A.

, Maio

G. R.

, Esses

V. M.

, Bond

M. H.

, & Keung

D. K.–Y.

(2005). Two dimensions of political attitudes and their individual difference correlates: A cross–cultural perspective. In Sorrentino

R. M.

, Cohen

, Olson

, & Zanna

(Eds.), Culture and social behavior: The Ontario symposium (pp. 1–29). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Ashton

M. C.

, & Lee

(2007). Empirical, theoretical, and practical advantages of the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 150–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868306294907.

Ashton

M. C.

, & Lee

(2013). Personality and religiousness. In Saroglou

(Ed.), Religion, personality, and social behavior (pp. 31–45). New York: Psychology Press.

Ashton

M. C.

, Lee

, & De Vries

R. E.

(2014). The HEXACO honesty–humility, agreeableness, and emotionality factors: A review of research and theory. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 18, 139–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868314523838.

Bleidorn

, Klimstra

T. A.

, Denissen

J. J.

, Rentfrow

P. J.

, Potter

, & Gosling

S. D.

(2013). Personality maturation around the world: A cross–cultural examination of social–investment theory. Psychological Science, 24, 2530–2540. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613498396.

10.

Chen

F. F.

(2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834.

11.

Chirumbolo

, & Leone

(2010). Personality and politics: The role of the HEXACO model of personality in predicting ideology and voting. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 43–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.004.

12.

Costa

P. T.

Jr. , & McCrae

R. R.

(1992). NEO personality inventory–revised (NEO–PI–R) and NEO five–factor inventory (NEO–FFI) professional manual. Psychological Assessment Resources: Odessa, FL.

13.

Crabtree

(2010, August). Religiosity highest in world's poorest nations. Retrieved from http://news.gallup.com/poll/142727/religiosity–highest–world–poorest–nations.aspx.

14.

Ekehammar

, Akrami

, Gylje

, & Zakrisson

(2004). What matters most to prejudice: Big five personality, social dominance orientation, or right–wing authoritarianism? European Journal of Personality, 18, 463–482. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.526.

15.

Fatke

(2017). Personality traits and political ideology: A first global assessment. Political Psychology, 38, 881–899. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12347.

16.

Gebauer

J. E.

, Bleidorn

, Gosling

S. D.

, Rentfrow

P. J.

, Lamb

M. E.

, & Potter

(2014). Cross–cultural variations in Big Five relationships with religiosity: A sociocultural motives perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107, 1064–1091. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037683.

17.

Gebauer

J. E.

, Sedikides

, Wagner

, Bleidorn

, Rentfrow

P. J.

, Potter

, & Gosling

S. D.

(2015). Cultural norm fulfillment, interpersonal belonging, or getting ahead? A large–scale cross–cultural test of three perspectives on the function of self–esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 526–548. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000052.

18.

Gelfand

M. J.

, Raver

J. L.

, Nishii

, Leslie

L. M.

, Lun

, Lim

B. C.

, … Aycan

(2011). Differences between tight and loose cultures: A 33–nation study. Science, 332, 1100–1104. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1197754.

19.

Goldberg

L. R.

(1993). The structure of phenotypic personality traits. American Psychologist, 48, 26–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003–066X.48.1.26.

20.

Haidt

, & Graham

(2007). When morality opposes justice: Conservatives have moral intuitions that liberals may not recognize. Social Justice Research, 20, 98–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211–007–0034–z.

21.

Hirsh

J. B.

, DeYoung

C. G.

, Xu

, & Peterson

J. B.

(2010). Compassionate liberals and polite conservatives: Associations of agreeableness with political ideology and moral values. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 655–664. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210366854.

22.

Jost

J. T.

, Glaser

, Kruglanski

A. W.

, & Sulloway

(2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 339–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033–2909.129.3.339.

23.

Kajonius

P. J.

, & Dåderman

A. M.

(2014). Exploring the relationship between honesty–humility, the Big Five, and liberal values in Swedish students. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 10, 104–117. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v10i1.672.

24.

Kandler

, Bell

, Shikishima

, Yamagata

, & Riemann

(2015). Genetic foundations of attitude formation. In Scott

, & Kosslyn

(Eds.), Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118900772.etrds0144.

25.

Kandler

, Bleidorn

, & Riemann

(2012). Left or right? Sources of political orientation: The roles of genetic factors, cultural transmission, assortative mating, and personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 633–645. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025560.

26.

Kandler

, Zimmermann

, & McAdams

D. P.

(2014). Core and surface characteristics for the description and theory of personality differences and development. European Journal of Personality, 28, 231–243. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1952.

27.

Koenig

L. B.

, McGue

, Krueger

R. F.

, & Bouchard

T. J.

Jr. (2005). Genetic and environmental influences on religiousness: Findings for retrospective and current religiousness ratings. Journal of Personality, 73, 471–488. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467–6494.2005.00316.x.

28.

Lee

, & Ashton

M. C.

(in press). Psychometric properties of the HEXACO–100. Assessment.

29.

Lee

, Ashton

M. C.

, Ogunfowora

, Bourdage

J. S.

, & Shin

K.– H.

(2010). The personality bases of socio–political attitudes: The role of honesty–humility and openness to experience. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 115–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.08.007.

30.

Lee

, Ashton

M. C.

, Pozzebon

J. A.

, Visser

B. A.

, Bourdage

J. S.

, & Ogunfowora

(2009). Similarity and assumed similarity in personality reports of well–acquainted persons. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 460–472. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014059.

31.

Leone

, Chirumbolo

, & Desimoni

(2012). The impact of the HEXACO personality model in predicting socio–political attitudes: The moderating role of interest in politics. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 416–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.049.

32.

Leone

, Desimoni

, & Chirumbolo

(2012). HEXACO, social worldviews and socio–political attitudes: A mediation analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 995–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.07.016.

33.

Ludeke

S. G.

, & Larsen

E. G.

(2017). Problems with the big five assessment in the world values survey. Personality and Individual Differences, 112, 103–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.02.042.

34.

Malka

, Soto

C. J.

, Cohen

A. B.

, & Miller

D. T.

(2011). Religiosity and social welfare: Competing influences of cultural conservatism and prosocial value orientation. Journal of Personality, 79, 763–792. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467–6494.2011.00705.x.

35.

Markowitz

E. M.

, Goldberg

L. R.

, Ashton

M. C.

, & Lee

(2012). Profiling the “pro–environmental individual”: A personality perspective. Journal of Personality, 80, 81–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467–6494.2011.00721.x.

36.

McFarland

S. G.

, Ageyev

V. S.

, & Abalakina–Paap

M. A.

(1992). Authoritarianism in the former Soviet Union. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 1004–1010. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022–3514.63.6.1004.

37.

McShane

B. B.

, Gal

, Gelman

, Robert

, & Tackett

J. L.

(2017). Abandon statistical significance. arXiv preprint arXiv:1709.07588.

38.

Osborne

, Wootton

L. W.

, & Sibley

C. G.

(2013). Are liberals agreeable or not? Social Psychology, 44, 354–360. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864–9335/a000132.

39.

Piurko

, Schwartz

S. H.

, & Davidov

(2011). Basic personal values and the meaning of left–right political orientations in 20 countries. Political Psychology, 32, 537–561.

40.

Pratto

, Sidanius

, Stallworth

L. M.

, & Malle

B. F.

(1994). Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 741–763. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022–3514.67.4.741.

41.

Rammstedt

, & John

O. P.

(2007). Measuring personality in one minute or less: A 10–item short version of the Big Five Inventory in English and German. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 203–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2006.02.001.

42.

Roets

, Van Hiel

, & Cornelis

(2006). Does materialism predict racism? Materialism as a distinctive social attitude and a predictor of prejudice. European Journal of Personality, 20, 155–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.573.

43.

Saroglou

(2010). Religiousness as a cultural adaptation of basic traits: A five–factor model perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 108–125. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868309352322.

44.

Saroglou

(2011). Believing, bonding, behaving, and belonging: The big four religious dimensions and cultural variation. Journal of Cross–Cultural Psychology, 42, 1320–1340. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022111412267.

45.

Saucier

, & Skrzypińska

(2006). Spiritual but not religious? Evidence for two independent dispositions. Journal of Personality, 74, 1257–1292. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467–6494.2006.00409.x.

46.

Schmidt

F. L.

, & Hunter

J. E.

(2014). Methods of meta–analysis: Correcting error and bias in research findings. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

47.

Schönbrodt

F. D.

, & Perugini

(2013). At what sample size do correlations stabilize? Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 609–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.05.009.

48.

Schwartz

S. H.

(1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065–2601(08)60281–6.

49.

Sibley

C. G.

, Osborne

, & Duckitt

(2012). Personality and political orientation: Meta–analysis and test of a threat–constraint model. Journal of Research in Personality, 46, 664–677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2012.08.002.

50.

Thorisdottir

, Jost

J. T.

, Liviatan

, & Shrout

P. E.

(2007). Psychological needs and values underlying left–right political orientation: Cross–national evidence from eastern and western Europe. Public Opinion Quarterly, 71, 175–203. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfm008.

51.

Van Hiel

, Kossowska

, & Mervielde

(2000). The relationship between openness to experience and political ideology. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 741–751. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191–8869(99)00135–X.

52.

Zettler

, & Hilbig

B. E.

(2010). Attitudes of the selfless: Explaining political orientation with altruism. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 338–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.11.002.

53.

Zettler

, Hilbig

B. E.

, & Haubrich

(2011). Altruism at the ballots: Predicting political attitudes and behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 45, 130–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2010.11.010.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.03 MB

0.04 MB

0.10 MB

0.02 MB

Personality,Religion,and Politics: An Investigation in 33 Countries

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material