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Predispositions Matter…But How? Ideology as a Mediator of Personality’s Effects on EU Support in Five Countries
Author(s) -
Curtis K. Amber,
Nielsen Julie Hassing
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/pops.12546
Subject(s) - ideology , conscientiousness , openness to experience , personality , big five personality traits , social psychology , mediation , politics , psychology , european union , political science , sociology , law , extraversion and introversion , economics , economic policy
Personality’s direct effects on various aspects of political attitudes and behavior have received substantial attention, yet few investigate its indirect effects—even though several studies posit that these may be even more important. We utilize original survey data from five European countries (Denmark, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) to provide a comprehensive, cross‐national test of the extent to which personal predispositions have a direct versus indirect impact on public support for the European Union (EU). Knowing that ideology is an important determinant of views towards European integration, we look specifically at the extent to which ideological self‐placement mediates the effect of the Big Five personality traits on EU attitudes. We indeed find evidence of significant mediation—most robustly for the traits of openness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability—particularly in contexts where party‐system complexity is low. These results reiterate that personality matters—both directly and indirectly—for political attitudes and behavior, confirm that ideology is an important mechanism transferring personality effects forward, and suggest that scholars would do well to further evaluate alternative pathways through which personality’s effects travel.