The effect of personality traits on political attitudes, and preference for supportive versus regulatory policy instruments in employment policy
Abstract
Objectives. The goal was to find out whether public policy attitudes to the preference of policy instruments in solving long-term unemployment are explained through a big-five factor model of personality or through political orientation.
Participants and settings. The authors administered a questionnaire survey among 8,554 university students in the Czech Republic.
Hypothesis. Public policy attitudes to individual policy instruments are most influenced by political orientation and the related personality traits of openness and conscientiousness. Authors assume that the personality traits of openness and conscientiousness correlate most significantly with an ideological predisposition, however, political orientation directly influences preferences for policy instruments.
Statistical analysis. Correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, structural models.
Results. Public policy attitudes to policy instruments were most influenced by political orientation and the related personality traits of openness and conscientiousness. However, on the basis of structural models, not only the direct influence of political orientation on preferences to policy instruments has been demonstrated; from the personality traits, it is again an openness of mind and conscientiousness.
Study limitation. The use of a short version of BFI-10; the lack of theoretical and empirical studies dealing with the influence of personality traits on public policy making.