The Big Five

Because thousands of distinct personality traits have been identified (Allport & Odbert, 1936), trait psychology would be a hodgepodge without some sort of ordering framework. Personality psychologists have recognized this circumstance for decades and have proposed models of personality trait structure ranging in size from two or three trait dimensions to 16 or more. The Big Five, or Five-Factor, perspective emerged out of research conducted on behalf of the U.S. Air Force in the late 1950s (e.g., Tupes & Christal, 1958), although it was not until the late 1980s that this approach truly took off among personality psychologists (e.g., Costa & McCrae, 1988). The derivation of the Big Five was empirical rather than theoretical. Researchers examined how people—in the earliest work, Air Force officers—rated themselves on a large number of adjectives and then administered a statistical technique, factor analysis, to determine how many underlying dimensions best represented the data’s structure. A five-factor structure was obtained. Today, the Big Five trait typology enjoys a dominant role in the field, along with corresponding popularity as a vehicle for applied research in political science and many other disciplines.

The Big Five trait dimensions are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.¹ We refer to these as trait dimensions rather than as traits because each is broad and encompasses several subsidiary facets. Researchers who make use of the Big Five contend that the framework captures the bulk of variation in personality trait structure. However, they do not assume that all aspects of personality, or even all personality traits, are represented by the Big Five. The Big Five approach thus constitutes a very good starting point for applied research on personality. But we should be aware of the possibility that, depending on our research questions, we might need to augment it with information on other traits. It is also possible that a framework superior to the Big Five eventually will emerge.

For students of comparative political behavior, an advantage of the Big Five is its cross-cultural applicability. Measures of the Big Five trait dimensions have been translated into dozens of languages, and researchers have administered these questionnaires throughout the world. More impressively, the same basic five-factor structure is observed in these applications (e.g., McCrae & Costa, 1997). This does not mean that personality structures are exactly the same everywhere. It may be, for example, that an unmeasured sixth or seventh trait dimension is prominent in a given nation. At the very least, the evidence shows that the dimensions of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism are present in people across a wide array of language groups, cultures, and nations.

To illustrate average levels of the Big Five across countries, we refer to the 2010 AmericasBarometer. This survey fielded personality questions to residents of 24 countries in North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Respondents were asked two items for each of the Big Five. Their responses were logged, combined, and recoded to range from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating greater openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability. ²Figure 1 depicts the responses to the personality items in four AmericasBarometer countries: Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico, and the United States. The dots in the figure represent the average score for that trait in the country, and the bars indicate the level of variation as measured by plus or minus one standard deviation. We find that answers vary somewhat from country to country, with Jamaicans providing slightly higher average responses for each of the Big Five than residents in the other three countries. Nevertheless, the degree of variation across individuals within each country is much greater than variation in the average response from one country to the next. This has two implications for cross-national research. First, in terms of personality, individuals of all types are found in each nation. Absent such variation, we might have questioned the value of obtaining information on personality, as there is little or no analytical benefit in studying “variables” that do not vary. Second, because there is considerably more variation within nations than between them, data on the Big Five facilitate the study of individual-level similarities and differences that transcend national boundaries.

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Figure 1. The Big Five in Four Countries.

Note: Dots represent the average score for that trait in the respective country. Bars indicate the level of variation in the country (plus or minus one standard deviation).

Source: 2010 Americas Barometer.

We now turn to a brief discussion of each trait dimension.

Openness refers to a curiosity about the world and a corresponding willingness to learn about different perspectives and to participate in new activities. Individuals scoring high in openness to experience are described as being imaginative, analytical, and creative. Like all aspects of personality, openness is linked to behaviors we might view as desirable and others we might see as undesirable. For example, people with high levels of openness seek out information and thus tend to be well-informed (Mondak, 2010). However, these same individuals often show a heightened willingness to take risks, such as with respect to the consumption of drugs and alcohol (Booth-Kewley & Vickers, 1994).

Conscientiousness is a trait dimension that includes the disposition to be dependable, organized, and punctual and a volitional tendency to be hardworking and industrious. People with high levels of conscientiousness typically excel in domains such as school and the workplace (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Conscientiousness also is related to physical fitness, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and the avoidance of personal risk (Booth-Kewley & Vickers, 1994).

Extraversion is the personality trait dimension with the longest history in academic research, with discussion of extraversion tracing back a full century. Although numerous other trait typologies preceded the emergence of the Big Five, nearly all have reserved a spot for extraversion (e.g., Eysenck & Wilson, 1978). Individuals scoring high in extraversion exhibit an inherent sociability. They are bold, outgoing, and talkative. Extraversion is associated with a preference for, and success in, activities that involve interaction with others (e.g., Barrick & Mount, 1991).

Agreeableness is the fourth Big Five trait dimension. Like extraversion, agreeableness is seen primarily in the context of individuals’ interactions with others. Adjectives used to represent those scoring high in agreeableness include “warm,” “kind,” “sympathetic,” and “generous.” High levels of agreeableness correspond with success in interpersonal relationships and collaborative ventures and with attachments to others such as those manifested in feelings of sense of community and trust (e.g., Lounsbury, Loveland, & Gibson, 2003).

Neuroticism, the final Big Five trait dimension, is also sometimes referred to by its opposite, emotional stability. Terms such as “tense” and “emotional” are used to represent neuroticism, whereas terms such as “calm” and “relaxed” indicate emotional stability. Like extraversion, research on neuroticism dates back a full century and explores a number of outcomes. High levels of neuroticism correspond with an increased risk of depression, whereas low levels correspond with certain career choices, such as becoming a surgeon or member of the clergy (Francis & Kay, 1995).

Research abounds on the meaning and significance of personality and on personality frameworks such as the Big Five. Given the enormity of the research record, we have presented a necessarily brief and simplified overview. This introduction hints at why political scientists increasingly consider personality when attempting to understand variation in people’s political attitudes and behaviors.

Political Information

Information arguably constitutes the lifeblood of democracy, and certainly information holds a central place in any meaningful discussion of citizen competence. If they are to make the sorts of high-quality decisions that foster political accountability, citizens must seek out objective sources of news about politics, they must process that information in a diligent and objective manner themselves, they must draw on that information when forming judgments about policies and about elected officials, and, ideally, they will use that information as the starting point for conversations about politics with their fellow citizens. We know, of course, that all citizens are not equal when it comes to the fulfillment of these tasks. At question is whether variation in personality partly accounts for the differences we observe in media use, knowledge about politics, and patterns of political discussion.

Of the Big Five trait dimensions, the one that is the most plausibly related to the acquisition of political information is openness to experience. Individuals with high levels of openness exhibit a general curiosity about the world, one that often manifests itself in a thirst for information on all subjects. Politics should not be any different. Evidence from multiple surveys reveals that openness corresponds with levels of attention to politics, levels of political knowledge, and the tendency of individuals to hold opinions on political issues. These relationships are observed with data on survey respondents’ self-reports, as well as survey interviewers’ ratings of respondents’ levels of political interest, knowledge, and opinionation (e.g., Gerber, Huber, Doherty, & Dowling, 2011; Mondak, 2010).

As to the social dimension of political information, many scholars have examined the effects of personality on political discussion (e.g., Gallego & Oberski, 2012; Gerber, Huber, Doherty, & Dowling, 2012; Hibbing, Ritchie, & Anderson, 2011; Mondak, Hibbing, Canache, Seligson, & Anderson, 2010). Openness again plays a role, with individuals high in openness being the most likely to have conversations about politics. Not surprisingly, a similar positive relationship exists between extraversion and political discussion. The characteristically talkative nature of extraverts brings them to take up multiple topics of conversation, including politics. One particularly important aspect of political discussion is participation in conversations in which disagreements are aired. Such conversations can help participants to learn about, and ultimately appreciate, the bases of viewpoints different from their own. Some evidence shows that the influence of personality can depend on the size of an individual’s discussion network. For extraverts, a large discussion network provides more opportunities for interaction and disagreement. The impact of extraversion on exposure to disagreement becomes more positive as one’s discussion network grows. Meanwhile, agreeable individuals generally prefer to associate with like-minded citizens. As a result, the impact of agreeableness on exposure to disagreement becomes more negative as the size of one’s discussion network increases.

Political Values, Orientations, and Attitudes

Research on political attitudes examines variation in people’s beliefs about all things political, from core moral and economic values to political ideology to appraisals of public officials and policies. In 2005, political scientists’ views on these matters received a jolt when Alford, Funk, and Hibbing (2005) showed that political ideology is highly heritable—that is, that 50% or more of the variation across individuals in ideology stems from biological differences. This finding implies that young adults do not enter the political world as blank slates, but instead carry with them relatively intransient predispositions about that world, and especially predispositions to be ideologically liberal or conservative.

This finding gave rise to a flurry of interest in how biology comes to matter for ideology—few scholars suspect that the answer is something so simple and direct as a “liberal gene”—and the related question of whether internal psychological structures also predispose individuals toward particular political views. Personality psychologists had long argued that biology shapes personality, which, in turn, influences orientations such as political ideology.⁴ The Alford et al. (2005) study reinvigorated interest in these relationships, particularly among political psychologists.

In applications of the Big Five to political dispositions and attitudes, the preponderance of attention has focused on openness and conscientiousness. Scholars have presumed that openness would correspond with the belief that a more active government would support social progress—an orientation in line with a traditional conception of ideological liberalism. Conversely, the cautiousness and restraint associated with conscientiousness presumably matches the belief that government should take small, prudent steps—hallmarks of traditional ideological conservatism. Using these hypothesized relationships as starting points, researchers have widened their inquiries by considering whether openness and conscientiousness are also predictors of values such as moral traditionalism and judgments regarding specific policies.

Although most research examining whether openness and conscientiousness influence political ideology has appeared only within the last decade, support for the expected openness-liberalism and conscientiousness-conservatism links already is voluminous. These relationships have been documented in multiple studies in Belgium, Germany, New Zealand, and especially the United States (e.g., Gerber, Huber, Doherty, Dowling, & Ha, 2010; Sibley, Osborne, & Duckitt, 2012). Of all the relationships scholars have examined between the Big Five and aspects of political behavior, the associations between openness and conscientiousness and political ideology arguably are the best established.

Consistent relationships involving Big Five trait dimensions also have been observed for other political attitudes and dispositions. Openness to experience and conscientiousness yield strong effects, again in opposing directions, on measures of moral traditionalism and moral judgment and attitudes regarding social, economic, and security issues (Gerber et al., 2010; Mondak, 2010). Extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism are also sometimes significant correlates of political views. However, these relationships appear more sporadic, and substantively less impressive, than the effects of openness and conscientiousness. Research on personality and political attitudes will benefit from the development of stronger and more cohesive theoretical rationales for why particular relationships should be expected, as well as continuing efforts to replicate initial findings across different periods of time and national political contexts.

Political Participation

The third category of research includes political participation. Participation involves a tremendous variety of actions—in essence, all manners in which individuals engage the political world that entail something more active than taking in information or forming an opinion (see van Deth, 2017). One grouping includes individualistic acts such as donating money to a candidate or cause or displaying bumper stickers on one’s car. These acts engage the political world, yet do not necessarily bring individuals into personal contact with others. Other forms of political participation involve interaction with other people: contacting public officials, attending social and political meetings, volunteering to work on campaigns, and joining political protests. Between these extremes is voter turnout, which requires no more social interaction than the brief conversations that occur at the polling place.

Scholars have posited that high levels of openness and extraversion affect most forms of political participation. Openness carries with it a drive to acquire and share information and to work toward solutions to perceived problems. Extraversion is expected to be positively linked with social forms of political participation, but not necessarily with more individualistic acts. This is because extraverts are thought to be drawn to political participation not by politics per se, but rather by the opportunity to interact with others.

In addition, it might seem that individuals high in conscientiousness would feel obligated to be good citizens, and thus to participate. Weighing against this is the reality that it is difficult for anyone to be conscientious at everything. If people prioritize their families and their jobs, for example, then political engagement might be cast aside. This suggests that some conscientious individuals—those who feel a duty to be politically engaged or who feel that political participation will be fruitful—will be especially likely to participate. However, other people high in conscientiousness might direct their energies elsewhere. Last, for acts of participation outside of the mainstream, such as engaging in political protest, a negative relationship with conscientiousness should be expected, because the follow-the-rules nature of individuals scoring high on this trait dimension should discourage them from bucking the system.

The empirical record provides strong, although less than universal, support for these expectations. Many tests of the relationships between openness and various forms of political participation have shown significant positive links, including to individualistic acts such as donating to candidates and social acts such as attending rallies (e.g., Ha, Kim, & Jo, 2013; Mondak et al., 2010). However, in some instances the relationships are substantively weak, and other tests have failed to find significant relationships. Several cross-national studies have identified relationships between extraversion and both conventional and unconventional social forms of political participation. Extraversion generally has not been found to be related to individualistic forms of political engagement, and the impact of this trait dimension on the semi-individualistic act of voting is inconsistent across studies.

Conscientiousness shows a strong negative relationship to participation in political protests (Mondak, Canache, Seligson, & Hibbing, 2011; Mondak et al., 2010). For conventional participation, the evidence reveals conditional effects. Conscientious individuals who feel that their voices will be heard—meaning they rate high in external efficacy—are especially likely to attend a rally, work on a campaign, and engage in other activities, but conscientiousness is inconsequential among individuals low in efficacy (Mondak, 2010). Another conditional effect is seen in a study of citizen response to jury summonses (Bloeser, McCurley, & Mondak, 2012). High conscientiousness is found to be positively related to summons compliance, but only among individuals who see jury service as a civic obligation.

This section briefly reviewed research on the relationships between the Big Five and variables pertaining to political information, attitudes, and participation. Research in these areas is growing quite rapidly, and thus it is important to keep in mind that we only have provided illustrative examples of what has been found, not an exhaustive review. The relationships we have noted hopefully provide a good sense of the sorts of applied projects on personality and politics that scholars are conducting, along with the early insights from this research. Although the first wave of research has yielded a wealth of intriguing findings, we see the potential for even greater value.