The Role of Personality in Political Talk and Like-Minded Discussion

Abstract

Political discussion is a key mechanism for the development of reasoned opinions and political knowledge, but online political discussion has been characterized as uncivil, intolerant, and/or ideologically homogeneous, which is detrimental to this development. In this paper, we examine the role of personality in various forms of political talk—online and offline—as well as like-minded discussion. Based on a 2017 survey conducted in the United Kingdom, United States, and France, we find that people who are open-minded and extraverted are more likely to engage in political talk but less likely to engage in like-minded discussion. Individuals who are older, less educated, introverted, and conscientious are more likely to find themselves in like-minded discussions, both online and on social media. Like-minded discussion is rare; personality, rather than ideology, predicts whether people engage in this form of political talk in online and offline modes. Our findings challenge the role of social media in the creation of like-minded discussion. Instead, we should look to the role of individual attributes, such as personality traits, which create a disposition that motivates the use of social media (and offline networks) to cultivate like-minded discussion.

Of pandemics, politics, and personality: The role of conscientiousness and political ideology in the sharing of fake news.

“…Such individuals will rely less on their subjective assessment of news accuracy and expend greater effort and care in discerning news veracity, which may reduce the likelihood of sharing false stories. Highly conscientious people are also more likely to engage in like-minded discussions with contra-partisans (Boulianne & Koc-Michalska, 2021), which might discourage them from participating in negative partisanship behaviors. Conversely, low conscientiousness conservatives who are reflexively driven by their partisan loyalties and assertion of their group's supremacy over others and less restrained by other conservative values will be more likely to share fake news.…”

Public servants’ political activity online in an institutional environment of caution: the role of personality traits

“…Appendix 1 outlines the measurement and operationalization of the independent, dependent and control variables. Each Big 5 trait was measured on a seven-point scale using a lexical approach with two separate questions (one affirmative and one negative), which is a common measurement technique (Boulianne and Koc-Michalska, 2022). Appendix 4 provides the distribution of the Big 5’s values within the sample used in this study’s regression analysis.…”

“…Importantly, the relationship personality traits have with political behavior might extend to online political activity. Reviewing research on personality, political activity and social media use, Boulianne and Koc-Michalska (2022) conclude that the Big 5’s relationship with political participation is similar to its relationship with social media. In their meta-analysis, Liu and Campbell (2017) corroborate this conclusion by finding that Extraversion and Openness are the traits most consistently correlated with social media use.…”

Mapping Media Framing and Politics: A Bibliometric Analysis Across the Globe

“…According to the data, the United States has the highest number of publications (417), followed by the United Kingdom (159). The substantial volume of research outputs in media framing and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom can be attributed to factors such as their roles as significant political actors Reis (2008), the competitive nature of their media systems Hanusch (2007), the widespread use of social media in political discussions Boulianne & Koc-Michalska (2021), the presence of populist politics and hyper-partisan news Rae (2020), and the high level of news audience compared to other countries. These factors indicate a strong emphasis on studying the effects of media in these regions (Fletcher et al, 2019).…”