2024/08/02 by James Tilley, Sara B. Hobolt · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Personality Traits and Psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11109-024-09963-5
openalex publication_date 2024/08/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
There are increasing concerns about affective polarization between political groups in the US and elsewhere. While most work explaining affective polarization focuses on a combination of social and ideological sorting, we ask whether people's personalities are associated with friendliness to their political in-group and hostility to their political out-group. We argue that the personality trait of narcissism (entitled self-importance) is an important correlate of affective polarization. We test this claim in Britain using nationally representative survey data, examining both long-standing party identities and new Brexit identities. Our findings reveal that narcissism, and particularly the 'rivalry' aspect of narcissism, is associated with both positive and negative partisanship. This potentially not only explains why some people are more susceptible to affective polarization, but also has implications for elite polarization given that narcissism is an important predictor of elite entry. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11109-024-09963-5.