Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, Vol 56(2), Apr 2024, 81-92; doi:10.1037/cbs0000355
Personality traits reliably predict political ideology and partisanship around the world, but studies investigating these relationships among Canadians used less-than-ideal measures of personality or did not examine the contribution of antagonistic personality traits (i.e., psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism). We surveyed Canadians (N = 2,551) on their ideological self-placement and political partisanship using full measures of HEXACO traits and antagonistic traits. The findings for political ideology were mostly consistent with previous studies. Canadians who placed themselves on the ideological right were lower in openness to experience, honesty–humility, and impulsivity, but higher in extraversion, narcissism, and antisocial tendencies. Nuanced relationships emerged between personality and support for specific political parties (i.e., partisanship). The personality traits of Liberal, Conservative, and Green partisans were not always consistent with the personality traits of their party’s ideological wing. Overall, we demonstrated a crucial distinction between ideology and partisanship and provided further evidence that personality matters for political choice in Canada. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)