The Association between Personality Traits and Voting in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Abstract

I examine the association between “Big Five” personality traits and voting in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election using an online panel of over 4,000 representative Americans. I find that personality has a strong, statistically significant association with voting intentions, even when controlling for voter characteristics and past voting behavior. Higher degrees of Extraversion and Conscientiousness are associated with voting for Donald Trump (the Republican candidate), while higher degrees of Neuroticism and Openness are associated with voting for Hillary Clinton (the Democratic candidate). These findings are in line with a nascent literature documenting associations of personality with conservative or liberal views.

Keywords: Online Panel, Big Five Personality, Voting, Political Election

JEL Classification: D01, D72, C83