Personality And Politics: How The Big Five Shapes Your Views

Have you ever found yourself in a heated political discussion with someone close to you, say a friend, partner or family member, and wondered why they see the world so differently? It’s as though you are experiencing two separate realities, with little or no common ground between them. Like you’re in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Since we all live in our own information bubbles these days, it’s reasonable to conclude that you’re right and they’re wrong; that you have the right facts and values and these differences expose the “other side’s” flawed viewpoint. Social media is great at taking political flashpoints (George Floyd, Covid-19, ICE activities etc) and reinforcing the divide into two seemingly rigid ideological camps. 

But while disagreements over politics are common, they’re not good for the peace of our families or the strength of our relationships. And with the USA’s Congressional midterms on the horizon, now’s a good time to consider how we can talk about politics calmly with everyone, regardless of which party they vote for. 

What is the Big Five?

The Big Five is a framework psychologists use to describe the five main dimensions of human personality. You can think of these traits as the core settings in a person’s operating system, quietly influencing how they think, feel and behave. 

• Openness describes your desire to experience novelty in life, including how receptive you are to new ideas and your general tolerance for ambiguity.
• Conscientiousness is measured as one’s sense of duty, organizational style, and level of self-control. Those who score highly for this trait are planners who prefer structure. Those low in this trait value spontaneity and tend to be more flexible. 
• Extraversion refers to your disposition toward social interaction and whether it energizes you or taxes your battery. Those high in Extraversion thrive in stimulating environments and social situations; Introverts require more time alone. 
• Agreeableness is the trait of compassion, cooperation and acceptance. High scorers are empathetic, harmony-seeking and quick to help. Low scorers follow the beat of their own drum and stand up for the best decision, even if it isn’t the popular decision.
• Neuroticism measures a person’s emotional sensitivity. Those with high levels tend to feel life’s ups and downs more intensely than others. Those with low levels are more at ease and rational about what could go wrong. 

How Do Political Beliefs Vary By Personality? 

Across various studies, the key finding is that our Big Five traits play a major role in shaping our political views, and in remarkably consistent ways. 

In 2011, researchers from Yale surveyed data from more than 12,000 American voters, linking their Big Five personality scores to their political beliefs and party preferences. They found a consistent pattern: higher Openness and (to a lesser extent) Agreeableness lean liberal, while higher Conscientiousness and low Neuroticism (called Emotional Stability) lean conservative.

Breaking it down:

• Openness to Experience is strongly associated with overall liberalism. More Open people favor unconventional social policies (e.g., around sexuality and abortion) and new government roles in the economy, which reflects their tolerance for novelty and change.
• Conscientiousness is consistently associated with conservatism. Those with high Conscientiousness have a preference for order and stability, and a dislike of disruptive change, both socially and economically. They prefer traditional social norms and are more skeptical of redistributive or interventionist economic policy. 
• Emotional Stability (low Neuroticism) is linked to economic conservatism and, more weakly, to social conservatism. The authors argue that emotionally stable individuals feel less anxious about economic insecurity, so they are less supportive of things like government safety nets.
• Agreeableness is strongly associated with economic liberalism, especially policies that provide support for people in need, reflecting their higher empathy.  That can seem like an odd match with the fact that it’s also linked to social conservatism, possibly because Agreeable people dislike conflict and feel uncomfortable challenging prevailing social norms.
• Extraversion doesn’t sway political opinion either way, but it does predict political participation. Extraverts are more likely to turn out to vote, attend campaign events, go to local political meetings, and contact officials or sign petitions.

Interestingly, these findings correlate with Truity’s own research, which used the Myers-Briggs-based TypeFinder® to understand whether personality type determines a person’s politics. In that study of 25,000 respondents, Intuitive types (which correlates to Openness on the Big Five) were nearly four times more likely to lean Democrat, and Judgers (which correlates to Conscientiousness) tended to identify as Republican.

How Personality Shapes Political Intensity

Just knowing whether you lean left or right doesn’t tell us how hard you’ll go to bat for those beliefs, or how likely you are to cut off a friend or even leave a marriage over politics. Two people can tick the same box on a ballot, yet one shrugs off political arguments while the other feels personally attacked when someone praises “the other side.”

To understand that difference, we have to ask how personality shapes the intensity of our reactions to politics, especially how much we dislike or distrust the opposing party.

In 2018, political scientist Steven Webster looked at how the Big Five traits relate to “negative partisanship” – the tendency to define your politics by how much you dislike the other party rather than how much you like your own. His key findings:

• Extraverted people are less likely to become negative partisans in the first place. They are more comfortable around a wide range of people, including those who disagree with them, so their identity is less wrapped up in hating the out‑party.
• Among people who do dislike the opposing party, those higher in Agreeableness feel that hostility less intensely – their drive for harmony and cooperation softens the sharp edges of partisan anger. People with low Agreeableness, who are more competitive by nature, express significantly more hostility toward political out-groups due to their preference for sorting “winners” and “losers.”
• These personality effects are at least as strong as, and sometimes stronger than, standard predictors like age, education, race, ideology and political activism when it comes to explaining who really “loathes” the other side.

In other words, your Big Five profile doesn’t just nudge you left or right. It also influences whether politics is a spirited debate you can leave at the dinner table, or a source of deep resentment that strains your closest relationships. When your socially guarded, low‑Agreeableness uncle Tom comes to dinner, you know you’re in for a three‑course feast of gotchas!

How One Couple’s Traits Turn Politics Into A Tug‑of‑War

To give that some color, let’s look at how the Big Five traits can steer political conversations in familiar, sometimes frustrating ways.

Sarah and Mike are a fictional U.S. couple. Sarah scores high on Openness. She loves new ideas, cultures, art forms and cuisines, and finds change exhilarating. She gets bored with routines and has no problem tearing up weekend plans at the last minute if something more interesting comes along.

Mike, by contrast, scores low on Openness, and that’s where the friction starts. He favors tradition and stability. He keeps a tight routine, sticks to a small rotation of meals, and feels anxious when Sarah excitedly suggests a new restaurant opening in their city. He still listens to the bands he loved in college and only encounters new music when she puts it on in the car.

Despite their differences, they get along well and live a low-drama life – right up until the moment the conversation turns to healthcare. Sarah thinks the current system is unfair and sees inequality as a problem the government can and should tackle with bold policy. Her Openness nudges her toward alternatives to the current system, including universal coverage like you see in other countries. 

Mike agrees there are flaws in the current system. But his low Openness makes him wary of “radical” change. He prefers familiar economic models grounded in what he sees as personal responsibility and worries that sweeping reforms could do more harm than good.

Same couple, same country, same experiences, same facts, same news cycle – but their personality settings push them toward very different versions of what “good policy” looks like, and how strongly they feel about defending it.

Bridging the Divide

Someone who clashes with you on politics usually isn’t trying to be difficult; they’re running on a different personality “operating system” that pulls them toward certain views. You don’t have to agree with them, and you’re definitely not going to fix years of differences in one family dinner, but personality clashes don’t have to turn every debate into a blow‑up. Here are three simple ways to build a bit more understanding across the great divide:

• Knowledge is power. So take Truity’s free Big Five test along with your partner. Grab a coffee and share your scores to spot the traits underneath your views and opinions. No judgment needed – just curiosity, and hopefully more empathy, about how the other is “wired.” 
• Experiment by framing political discussions around each other’s traits, not their opinions. So, instead of calling the other person “naive” or “callous,” try saying things like, “I know you really value order and personal responsibility,” or, “You’re more comfortable with big changes than I am,” and see if that softens the tone of the conversation.
• Learn to respect each other’s differences. Practice makes perfect here. Make it a ritual to share a news story and then view it through the lens of your partner’s personality. Share a laugh as you put yourself in the other person’s shoes and role-play each other. If appropriate, you can revisit a past disagreement using this approach as a new lens through which to view it. 

The takeaway? We are not powerless here. Our personality may lean us in a certain direction, but it doesn’t have to decide how we treat the people we love. What it can do is explain why certain arguments keep repeating, and where we might step in differently.