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In this article, we examine whether there is genetic overlap between personality traits and political participation, interest, and efficacy. We make several contributions to the literature. First, we use new data from a large sample of twins from Denmark to examine the link between genes, the Big Five traits, and political behavior. Previous research in this area has not examined the Danish context. Second, because our measures have some overlap with those used in previous studies, we are able to examine whether previous findings replicate in a different sample. Finally, we extend the literature by examining the possible genetic link between some personality and political traits that have not yet been explored. Overall, we find that genes account for a fairly large share of the correlation between two of the Big Five personality traits (openness and extraversion), political participation, and political interest. Thus, most of the relationship between these personality traits and our measures of political behavior can be accounted for by a common underlying genetic component.

Objective: We study personality traits of Danish parliamentarians (MPs) and examine elite-voter congruence and elite differentiation. Whereas previous political elite studies have focused only on the Big Five level, we include aspect-level differences., Method: In a highly representative survey of Danish MPs (N = 81; response rate = 46.3%) and a representative study of Danish voters (N = 3,612), we used the 60-item NEO-PI-R short version to examine personality differences on the Big Five level and, based on the NEO-BFAS, the aspect level., Results: MPs were more extraverted, conscientious, and open than the average voter. On the elite level, liberal MPs were more agreeable and, on the aspect level, more compassionate but not more polite than conservative MPs. MPs in center parties had stronger power aspirations and were less agreeable and more extraverted than MPs in peripheral parties. On the aspect level, MPs in center parties were more assertive and enthusiastic and less polite. Conscientiousness and Agreeableness were associated with power aspiration, but Extraversion was not because the assertiveness effect was suppressed by a non-effect for enthusiasm., Conclusions: The inclusion of the aspect level explains null findings at the Big Five level and adds important nuances to the personality portrait of political elites., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Almost 40 years ago, evidence from large studies of adult twins and their relatives suggested that between 30 and 60% of the variance in social and political attitudes could be explained by genetic influences. However, these findings have not been widely accepted or incorporated into the dominant paradigms that explain the etiology of political ideology. This has been attributed in part to measurement and sample limitations, as well the relative absence of molecular genetic studies. Here we present results from original analyses of a combined sample of over 12,000 twins pairs, ascertained from nine different studies conducted in five democracies, sampled over the course of four decades. We provide evidence that genetic factors play a role in the formation of political ideology, regardless of how ideology is measured, the era, or the population sampled. The only exception is a question that explicitly uses the phrase "Left-Right". We then present results from one of the first genome-wide association studies on political ideology using data from three samples: a 1990 Australian sample involving 6,894 individuals from 3,516 families; a 2008 Australian sample of 1,160 related individuals from 635 families and a 2010 Swedish sample involving 3,334 individuals from 2,607 families. No polymorphisms reached genome-wide significance in the meta-analysis. The combined evidence suggests that political ideology constitutes a fundamental aspect of one's genetically informed psychological disposition, but as Fisher proposed long ago, genetic influences on complex traits will be composed of thousands of markers of very small effects and it will require extremely large samples to have enough power in order to identify specific polymorphisms related to complex social traits.

This article examines if deep-seated psychological differences add to the explanation of attitudes toward immigration. We explore whether the Big Five personality traits matter for immigration attitudes beyond the traditional situational factors of economic and cultural threat and analyze how individuals with different personalities react when confronted with the same situational triggers. Using a Danish survey experiment, we show that different personality traits have different effects on opposition toward immigration. We find that Openness has an unconditional effect on attitudes toward immigration: scoring higher on this trait implies a greater willingness to admit immigrants. Moreover, individuals react differently to economic threat depending on their score on the traits Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Specifically, individuals scoring low on Agreeableness and individuals scoring high on Conscientiousness are more sensitive to the skill level of immigrants. The results imply that personality is important for attitudes toward immigration, and in the conclusion, we further discuss how the observed conditional and unconditional effects of personality make sense theoretically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the foundations of democratic citizenship along three dimensions: generalised trust in other people; norms of citizenship; and participation in organisations. Contrary to previous research, which mainly focuses on situational factors, this article scrutinises how individual predispositions, in terms of personality traits, influence the three dimensions of democratic citizenship. In accordance with recent research, personality is conceptualised according to the Big Five personality model encompassing the five traits Openness (to experience), Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Based on a nationally representative Danish survey, which includes a 60-item Big Five personality inventory, we show that personality traits to a considerable extent influence all three dimensions of democratic citizenship. Furthermore, for norms of citizenship and organisational involvement, the personality traits have differential impacts contingent on the norm and type of organisational involvement in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial body of work has highlighted the distinctive personality trait levels of elected officials, but very little is known about the personality of those who actually implement the political will of these officials, namely, bureaucrats. We sent surveys to all Danish municipal politicians and high-level bureaucrats for whom contact information could be obtained (92% of total). With response rates of 53% and 40% for politicians and bureaucrats, respectively, our sample of political elites across the two groups represents the best-powered study of political elites to date. Responses to our 30-item Big Five survey (the BFI-2-S; Soto and John, 2017a; Vedel et al., 2020) highlighted substantial similarity among various categories of political elites. For example, differences between bureaucrats and elected officials were small on average, and less than half that observed in a recent study comparing Danish elected officials with a representative population sample (Nørgaard & Klemmensen, 2018). Comparisons between bureaucrats of different rank partially aligned with results on executive personality (Ones & Dilchert, 2009). Potential implications for effective political functioning and for meeting the needs of those with personalities diverging from those of political elites are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While previous studies have shown that the traits in the FFM are moderately heritable, it is important to examine whether earlier results hold across different contexts. To date, few studies from the Scandinavian context have estimated the heritability of the FFM. We remedy this shortcoming by making use of a large sample of Danish twins who completed a 60-item personality inventory. Our results confirm that previous findings regarding the heritability of personality traits hold in the Danish context. We find that there are differences in mean levels and heritability estimates of personality traits across gender, though the differences in heritability estimates are not statistically significant. We find a significant common environment component for several of the personality traits, which indicates that the rearing environment of Danish twins may influence the development of some personality traits. All scripts for the analyses in this paper will be made available on OSF upon publication. This study's design and its analysis were not pre-registered. We are not allowed to share or post the Danish Twin Registry data used in this paper. However, information on the requirements for getting access to data and how to apply for data can be located here: https://www.sdu.dk/en/om%5fsdu/institutter%5fcentre/ist%5fsundhedstjenesteforsk/centre/dtr/researcher/guidelines. We note that data used for this research was provided by the Danish Twin Registry, University of Southern Denmark. The findings, opinions and recommendations expressed therein are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of the Danish Twin Research Center. The Danish Twin Registry has been approved by SDU RIO (SDU Legal Services) and the Committee on Health Research Ethics. The participants were enrolled by informed consent. The Danish Twin Registry, SDU RIO notification no. 10.585. We have a conflict of interest with Pete Hatemi and Brad Verhulst because of this publication: Ludeke, S. G. & Rasmussen, S. H. R. (2016). Personality correlates of sociopolitical attitudes in the Big Five and Eysenckian models. Personality and Individual Differences, 98, 30–36. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]