The People You are: Personality Traits as Determinants of Redistribution Preferences

Abstract

Personality is an important omitted variable in much of the Political Economy literature. While material self-interest is the base of most approaches to redistribution (first affecting preferences and then politics and policy), there is a paucity of research on how personality affects support for redistribution and insurance. In this paper, we argue that altruism and risk aversion are significant determinants of support for progressive taxation. The empirical tests we conduct are based on internet panel surveys that were conducted in the UK as part of the 2010 British Election (the British Cooperative Campaign Project). In making these distinctions between personality types, the arguments in this paper challenge some influential approaches to the politics of inequality.