Personality Traits and Foreign Policy Attitudes in German Public Opinion

Abstract

This article examines the effects of personality traits on attitudes toward foreign policy issues among the German public. Building on previous research, it argues that personality characteristics shape an individual's motivation, goals, and values, thereby providing criteria to evaluate external stimuli and affecting foreign policy opinions. An analysis of survey data from a random sample of Germans eligible to vote confirms that the personality traits play a role in attitudes toward foreign policy issues. By and large, personality affects foreign policy opinions roughly as strongly as traditional factors such as partisanship, ideology, and social background. Among the traits studied, agreeableness and openness render persons more supportive of international cooperation and more skeptical of the use of military force, whereas conscientiousness exhibits reverse effects. Thus, personality traits merit serious attention in analyses of public opinion on foreign policy.

The Role of Personality, Authoritarianism and Cognition in the United Kingdom’s 2016 Referendum on European Union Membership

“…Voters on both sides of the referendum debate were susceptible to the cognitive biases tested, but often, unexpectedly, to different degrees. With respect to personality, authoritarianism and thinking styles, our results are consistent with the differences observed between liberals and conservatives spanning decades of research (Carney et al, 2008) and more recently between Europhiles and Eurosceptics (Bakker & de Vreese, 2016;Schoen, 2007). We found Remain voters to have higher levels of neuroticism and openness and lower levels of conscientiousness and authoritarianism than Leave voters.…”

“…Previous research had noted positive correlations for widening the EU and for a European Government, but also a negative correlation for deepening the EU (Bakker & de Vreese, 2016;Schoen, 2007). Given these inconsistencies, it is perhaps unsurprising that agreeableness did not play a significant role in voter differences.…”

“…As with political orientation, there is far less consistency and strength in observed relationships between agreeableness in relation to attitudes to the EU. An example of this inconsistency is that agreeableness has been found to be negatively correlated with identification with Europe and deepening relationships with the EU, but also positively correlated with support for widening the EU and support for European Government (Schoen, 2007). The final Big Five trait, extraversion, has been observed to be negatively correlated with support for widening the EU, although this finding is limited to one paper (Bakker & de Vreese, 2016).…”

Una sensibilidad focalizada: opinión pública y política exterior de Costa Rica hacia Nicaragua

“…Los antecedentes empíricos han señalado, además, la relevancia del desempeño del gobierno (Eichenberg 2016), la identificación partidaria (Holsti 2004;Shoen 2007), el nivel de información (Zaller 1994), así como las variables sociodemográficas sexo, edad, educación y nivel de ingresos (Cascante y Pignataro 2015;Eichenberg 2016;Holsti 2004;Irondelle, Mérand y Foucault 2015;Schoen 2007) para explicar la opinión sobre política exterior. De ahí que estas variables se especifican en los modelos.…”

Personality and Euroscepticism: The Impact of Personality on Attitudes Towards the EU

“…51, 54). Findings about conscientiousness are mixed: Schoen (Schoen, ) finds that highly conscientious Germans express less preference for international co‐operation (Schoen, ); however, Bakker and Vreese (Bakker & Vreese, ) conclude that conscientiousness positively predicts support for deepening the EU and trust in the EU. Hence, I expect the following:H Conscientiousness positively correlates with positive EU attitudes.…”