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The relationship between Openness to Experience and political ideology

This study examines the relationship between Openness to Experience and political ideology. Previous research has found a negative correlation between Openness and conservatism or authoritarianism. The study uses questionnaires to measure Openness and ideological variables among left-wing and right-wing extremists.

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The relationship between Openness to Experience and political ideology

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  1. The relationship between Openness to Experience and political ideology Ting Mi Rong Xing Qian Zhang

  2. 1 Introduction • Alain van Hiela,*, Malgorzata Kossowskab, Ivan Mervieldea • Personality and Individual Di€erences 28 (2000) 741±751 • The Five-Factor Model, a dimensional representation of personality structure referring to Extraversion (I), Agreeableness (II), Conscientiousness (III), Neuroticism (IV) and Openness to Experience. • The NEO-PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1989; 1992) has been widely used to measure personality factors.

  3. 1 introduction • 1.1 Related studies • Recent studies on the relationship between the Five-Factor personality Model and political attitudes report a negative relationship between Openness to Experience and conservatism or authoritarianism (Altemeyer, 1996; McCrae, 1996; McCrae & Costa, 1997; Peterson, Smerles & Wentworth, 1997; Riemann, Grubich, Hempel, Mergl & Richter, 1993; Trapnell, 1994; VanHiel & Mervielde, 1996a,b). • political beliefs were operationalized as factor-analytic dimensions constructed from a large pool of items covering various political issues. The major dimension underlying these political issues was identified as General conservatism. The correlations between Openness to Experience and the General conservatism dimension in the Riemann et al. (1993) study and the Van Hiel and Mervielde (1996a; 1996b)studies were negative and very strong.

  4. 1 introduction • 1.1Related studies • Trapnell (1994) reports significant correlations between the Openness to Experiencefacet scores and the Wilson and Patterson (1968) conservatism scale (ÿ0.18 <r <ÿ0.64, N= 789) and Altemeyer's Right-wing (1981) authoritarianism scale. • McCrae (1996) selected items from Gough's California Psychological Inventory that correspond to the original categories of Adorno, Frenkel±Brunswik, Levinson and Sanford's (1950) F-scale and found significant negative correlations(ÿ0.12 <r <ÿ0.35,N=348) between Openness and these items.

  5. 1 introduction • 1.1 Related studies • Peterson et al. (1997) obtained a negative correlation between Opennessmeasured by a questionnaire consisting of personality-descriptive adjectives (John, Donahue & Kentle, 1991) and Altermeyer's (1988) Right-Wing Authoritarianism scalein an American student sample(r=ÿ0.36, N= 198) as well as in the sample of these students' parents(r=ÿ0.33, N=157).

  6. 2 method • 2.1 sample • Most of the research on variables has been carried out with samples of social science students. These samples often include people with a left-wing, anti-authoritarian ideology. • According to Eysenck (1954, 1981; see also Rokeach, 1960; Wilson, 1973) fascists and communists have many attitudes in common that are contrary to those of advocates of democratic parties. This perspective would suggest that low levels of Openness may be obtained among true extremists as opposed to moderates. • Find a way to provide a test of the relationship between Openness and ideology in a sample of political left-wing and right-wing extremists

  7. 2 method

  8. 2 method • 2.2 Questionnaires • Openness to Experience:Fantasy (O1), Aesthetics (O2) Feelings(O3), Actions (O4), Ideas (O5), and Values (O6). • Ideological variables • 1 General conservatism dimension of the political belief questionnaire (Van Hiel & Mervielde, 1996a) sample 1-3 • 2 nine-point scales to what extent they agreed with the program of the six major political parties. sample1-3 • 3 a self-placement left/right scale, with nine categories, ranging from 1 (left) to 9(right). Sample 2 and sample 3 (Correlations between the principal component representing political preferences and the self-placement left/right scale were high and positive) • 4 a questionnaire (Boski, 1993) designed to assess conservative beliefs Poland. sample4

  9. 3. Results • 3.1. NEO-FFI Openness and right-wing ideology Principal component conservation beliefs (all ps<0.001) Political party student adult Flemish adult Polish r0.61 0.61 0.45 0.58

  10. 3. Results • Results of previous studies

  11. 3. Results • NEO-FFI Openness scale left/right scale Flemish student adult Flemish adult Polish (ps<0.001) r -0.47 -0.47 -0.37 political party (ns.) r -0.14 Analyses applying Fischer's r to z transformation revealed that this relationship was significantly weaker in the political party sample than in the other samples. (zs>1.63, ps<0.05)

  12. 3. Results left/right scale Openness scale adult Flemish student (ps<0.001) r -0.46 -0.37 adult Polish (p<0.05) r -0.22 political party (ns.) r -0.05 Further analyses revealed significant lower correlations in the adult Polish sample and the political party sample than in the adult Flemish sample (zs >1.92, ps <0.05) A significant difference (z= 1.96, p <0.05) between the student sample and the political party sample was also found

  13. 3. Results • 3.2. The relationships between political ideology and the Openness facet scores • Values show high correlations with political ideology in all samples • A positive relationship between Ideas and political ideology was noted in the political party sample • Fantasy and Actions are clearly the most robust ideological correlates and show significant relationships in the expected direction in the Flemish samples • Aesthetics and especially Feelings are weaker correlates of political ideology

  14. 4 Discussion The first aim of this study: assess differencesamong the samples regarding the relationship between political ideology and Openness to Experience The results revealed correlations between Openness and right-wing ideology were significant and negative in the Flemish student sample and both adult samples A much weaker relationships in the adult Polish sample was found when the Values items were excluded. correlations were significantly lower in the political party sample than in the other two Flemish samples.

  15. The second aim of this study: • assess the generality of the relationship across all Openness facets. The results showed the most robust correlates much weaker correlates inconsistent Fantasy Actions Values political ideology Feelings Aesthetics Ideas

  16. In the remainder we focus on three topics: 1.the results of the Polish sample 2.the Flemish political party sample 3.the theoretical meaning of the results obtained at the facet-level.

  17. Results obtained in the Polish sample A much weaker correlations (between Openness and right-wing ideology) in the adult Polish sample was found when the Values items were excluded. • Why • Suggests that the meaning of these values has already shifted in the direction of a Western conception.

  18. In Poland, communist values may have disappeared more quickly, because • First, communism was less successful in penetrating the social system (Schwartz & Bardi, 1997). • Second, economic transitions proceed at a much faster rate than in the other Eastern European countries. • Moreover, Poland can be considered as an outlier in the central European region as well. • More traditional values be endorsed than other ex-communist society • nationalistic feelings flourish in Poland • `Alternative' expressions of traditionalism

  19. Results obtained in the political party sample ‘research tradition’-sample is not typical • A debate on the characteristics of political extremists developed since the 1950s • for which hardly any empirical data is available. • Many political psychologists `` ... typically base their case on intuitive evidence... concerning apparent similarities between regimes of the far left and far right, rather than on a systematic review of the empirical data on any personality and ideology''. (Stone and Smith,1993, p. 154) • Most of these studies were conducted with social science students. • Few of them used samples more or less representative for the electorate. • consequences • lack of data on `real extremists', some studies have found them to exhibit higher degrees of authoritarianism and dogmatism

  20. From this historical perspective then, the confirmation of the relationship between Openness to Experience and political ideology in a sample of truly high scoring left-wing and right-wing extremist groups deserves special attention.

  21. 4 Discussion Present result • The negative relationship between right-wing ideology and Openness to Fantasy and Actions confirms our expectations. • These results suggest certain similarities of the relationship between personality and political ideology among political party members as well as among students and adults. • The finding that Openness to Ideas is associated with the membership of right-wing extreme parties is puzzling and difficult to explain. • As Openness to Ideas refers to ``Intellectual curiosity... active pursuit of intellectual interests for their own sake... a willingness to consider new, perhaps unconventional ideas'' (Costa & McCrae, 1992, p. 17), one would certainly expect low levels of it among right-wing extremists.

  22. Results on the feelings facets Previous studies • Adorno et al. (1950) • claims that authoritarians are characterized by low attention to feelings and subjectivity. • low levels of Feelings closely resembles Adorno et al.'s anti-intraception facet of the F-scale. • anti-intraception refers to ``Opposition to the subjective, the imaginative, the tender-minded'' (p. 256). • Trapnell (1994) • claims that some of his results are articulated many years ago by Adorno et al. (1950). Present results • do not corroborate these assumptions, but instead, are in agreement with Altemeyer's (1981) thesis that anti-intraception is not related to right-wing ideology.

  23. 5 Conclusions • It is important to note that neither in the case of intraception, nor in the case of intellectualism, the NEO-PI-R operationalization of Openness to Experience concept exhausts all possibilities for studying these phenomena. • Subsequent research should • different measures probing for Openness to Feelings and Ideas • alternative measures for the other facets. • the finding that • certain Openness facets show stronger relationships with ideology than other facets may be a guide for future research. • the study of the underlying facet structure of the broad domain factors can serve as a tool for further refinement of previous research on the relationship between ideology and personality.

  24. Thank you!

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