Political Science Commons^™

Modeling The Development & Expression Of Political Opinion: A Zallerian Approach, Avery C. Ellis

Honors Projects

Research focused on John Zaller's famous RAS model of political opinion formation and change from "The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion" (1992). Analyzed the mathematical and psychological underpinnings of the model, the first paper to do so in over fifteen years and the first to do so through an analysis of motivated reasoning and Bayesian reasoning. Synthesized existing critiques of Zaller's model and other literature to suggest ways to build on Zaller, utilizing fundamental reunderstandings of opinions and messages from political and mathematical perspectives. Found verification for Zaller's model, confirming its value, but also found support for the proposed …

The Personality Profile Of 2024 Republican Presidential Contender Ron Desantis, Aubrey Immelman, Mikayla Santiago

Psychology Faculty Publications

This is a brief report of the results of an indirect psychodiagnostic assessment of the personality of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a contender for the Republican nomination in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about DeSantis were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines …

The Personality Profile And Leadership Style Of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Elise Vomacka, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This report presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Zelenskyy were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Zelenskyy’s primary personality patterns were …

The Post-Expansionist Personality Profile Of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aubrey Immelman, Abby Goff

Psychology Faculty Publications

This report presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality and leadership style of Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Putin were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles …

Military Conflict In Ukraine: Personality Profiles Of The Principals – Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, And Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Aubrey Immelman, Christ’L De Landtsheer, Elise Vomacka, Abby Goff

Psychology Faculty Publications

Panel Summary

“Military Conflict in Ukraine: Personality Profiles of the Principals – Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy” was a panel presentation at the 46th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology in Montréal, Québec, Canada, July 9–11, 2023.

Following an overview of the conceptual and methodological framework that informed their personality-in-politics inquiry, panelists presented the personality profiles of three national leaders central to the current military conflict in Ukraine: Russian president Vladimir Putin, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Presentation 1

“Psychodiagnostic Meta-Analysis: A Psychodiagnostically Relevant Conceptualization and Methodology for Assessing Personality …

The Personality Profile Of Republican Presidential Contender Chris Christie, Aubrey Immelman, Joseph V. Trenzeluk

Psychology Faculty Publications

This is a report of the results of an indirect assessment, in 2015, of the personality of former New Jersey governor (2010–2018) Chris Christie, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon. Christie ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and in June 2023 declared his candidacy in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data pertaining to Christie were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The …

The Personality Profile Of China’S Empress Wu Zetian, Ruoyue Wang, Yunyiye Chen, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Empress Wu Zetian, de facto ruler of China from 665 to 705, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Empress Wu were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of …

The Development Of Conspiracy Theories During The Freedom Convoy, Srinjoyee Chakraborty Ms.

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Conspiracy theories have been prevalent throughout history, especially during periods of fear and uncertainty as people build a narrative against political elites and blame misdeeds on their malignant nature. A case study of this phenomenon can be examined in the Canadian Freedom Convoy. The Freedom Convoy began in early 2022 as a protest against COVID-19 mandates, attracting significant political attention as an unprecedented event that eventually forced Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act. As political tensions and opinions arose on social media, conspiracist groups began to develop conspiracy theories about the Truck Convoy in order to attract attention from potential …

(Re-) Envisioning The Masses: Critiquing Theoretical Foundations And ‘Black Lives Matter’, Sarra Moneir

Future Journal of Social Science

This research revolves around drawing up the trends of scholarly contributions on collective action, in particular, the concept of ‘masses’ in a sample of literature of the Global South, driven by the significance of such action for more than a decade ago across various regions. This paper uses the case of the Black Lives Matter Movement that started in 2013 in the US as an example of the applicability of the theoretical contributions demonstrated. The use of social movement theories has attained great focus for decades, which is often believed to not be the sole representation of how to interpret …

Using Political Psychology To Understand Populism, Intellectual Virtues, And Democratic Backsliding, Ingrid J. Haas

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

Political scientists have argued that populism is an ideology that can occur on both the left and right, whereby people begin to see politics as a battle between the people and a powerful elite that fails to represent the people’s interest and are attracted to political candidates who vow to fight corruption. In this chapter, I examine how research in political psychology may help to explain the motivations underlying citizens’ attraction to populist ideologies and political candidates. I argue that the same cognitive processes driving people toward populism are those that undermine the intellectual virtues, which in turn, decreases support …

The Federalist Papers' Account Of Human Nature, Jeffrey P. Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper is an analysis of the account of human nature found in The Federalist Papers. This interpretation assumes The Federalist is a work of political rhetoric and advocacy, but also one of genuine significance as political science and philosophy. As a book, The Federalist is a coherent whole, which offers a coherent account of human nature, despite the collective nature of its authorship, the time pressures of its publication, and the piecemeal nature of its workmanship. This understanding of human nature is the thread which runs through all its analysis and numbers. Its arguments asserting the inadequacies of …

The Personality Profile And Leadership Style Of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Juliana Khoury, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Trudeau were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Trudeau’s primary personality pattern …

The Personality Profile And Leadership Style Of U.S. President Joe Biden, Anne Marie Griebie, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality and leadership style of U.S. president Joe Biden, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Biden were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Biden’s primary …

The Personality Profile And Leadership Style Of China’S President Xi Jinping, Aubrey Immelman, Yunyiyi Chen

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality and leadership style of China’s president, Xi Jinping, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Xi were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Xi’s primary …

Turkey’S Map Of Emotions And Its Political Reflections, Gokben Hizli Sayar, Huseyin Unubol, Deniz Ulke Aribogan, Nevzat Tarhan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Political psychology is an interdisciplinary scientific field that that combines politics and psychology to explore the effect of emotions in politics. It examines the backgrounds of political decisions at the individual and community levels. This study analyzes the political decisions of voters in Turkey, focusing on positive and negative reactions, such as trust and fear. Using conclusions drawn from the Addiction Map of Turkey Study (TURBAHAR), which involved interviews with approximately twenty-five thousand participants during five months in 2018, this study analyzed the results of local elections held in thirty metropolitan districts and fifty-one provinces in Turkey on March 31, …

The Political Personality Of 2020 Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris, Anne Marie Griebie, Aubrey Immelman, Yitao Zhang

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. senator Kamala Harris, Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Harris were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index …

The Political Personality Of 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, Anne Marie Griebie, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of former U.S. vice president Joe Biden, Democratic nominee in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Biden were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and …

The Personality Profile And Leadership Style Of U.S. President Donald J. Trump In Office, Aubrey Immelman, Anne Marie Griebie

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon, of the personality of Donald J. Trump, 45th president of the United States, based solely on personality dynamics revealed by his political behavior in office.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data were collected from biographical sources and media reports of Trump’s postinaugural political behavior from January 20, 2017 until July 2020 and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded …

The Political Personality Of 2020 Democratic Presidential Contender Bernie Sanders, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper reports the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. senator Bernie Sanders — a contender for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential election — from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon. Information concerning Sanders was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and …

How Will President Trump Respond To Iranian Retaliation For The Killing Of Qasem Soleimani?, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This analysis attempts to predict the general tenor of President Donald Trump’s likely response to Iran’s anticipated retaliation for the targeted killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani, based on (1) empirical studies of Trump’s personality profile and leadership style conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics and (2) rational-intuitive inference derived from Trump’s observed behavior in office.

The Political Personality Of Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Note: The paper whose abstract appears below, titled "The Political Personality of Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden" has been replaced on the 'Download' tab with an updated paper containing a more thorough personality assessment and a more detailed leadership style analysis, titled "The Political Personality of 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden." The earlier paper has been archived and may be uploaded at the bottom of this page from the hyperlink under 'Additional Files.'

This working paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of former U.S. vice president Joe Biden — a contender for …

Personality, Politics, And Religion, Amanda Friesen

Political Science Publications

Individual differences in personality, religiosity, and political dispositions often are explained in conjunction with one another. Though the religious and political may share common themes of meaning-making, group identity, and societal organization, personality also influences these orientations. Specifically, the Big Five traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability) and authoritarianism demonstrate consistent relationships with religious/ political beliefs and behaviors. Personality is often thought of as the first mover to develop with an individual before exposure to the other two domains, leading to a conceptual influence model of: personality → religiosity → politics. Using longitudinal studies and genetically informed samples, however, …

The Leadership Style Of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents a personality-based analysis of the likely leadership style of Chairman Kim Jong-un, supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in negotiations with U.S. president Donald Trump, inferred from the results of indirect personality assessments conducted 2013–2018 from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Kim’s primary personality patterns were found to be Outgoing/gregarious and Dominant/controlling, supplemented by secondary Accommodating/cooperative, Ambitious/confident, and Dauntless/adventurous features.

Outgoing individuals are dramatic attention‑getters who thrive on being the center of social events, go out of their way to be popular with others, and are confident in their social skills; …

How Dehumanization Influences Attitudes Towards Immigrants, Stephen M. Utych

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Immigrants, as a group, are frequently described in ways, such as vermin or disease, that portray them as less than human. This type of dehumanizing language leads to negative emotional responses and negative attitudes towards the dehumanized group. This paper examines how the dehumanization of immigrants influences immigration policy attitudes I use original experimental data to show that dehumanization leads to more negative immigration attitudes. I further find that these negative attitudes are mediated by the role of emotion. Dehumanization increases anger and disgust towards immigrants, which causes anti-immigrant sentiment.

The Personality Profile Of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Kim Jong-un, supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, conducted 2013–2018 from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Kim was collected from open-source media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM–III–R, DSM–IV, and DSM–5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles …

Negative Affective Language In Politics, Stephen M. Utych

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

How do the words we use to talk about politics influence political attitudes and evaluations? I focus specifically on negative affective language; words which individuals have pre-existing negative reactions towards. Considering the Affect Infusion Model (AIM), processing style influences how individuals use affect when making decisions. The impact of affective language depends upon the complexity of the decision. In simpler processing tasks, individuals will use affect as a heuristic. This causes a misattribution of generalized negative affect onto a political target, leading to harsher evaluations. When a decision is complex, affective language influences how new information is stored in memory, …

The 'Nayirah' Effect: The Role Of Target States’ Human Rights Violations And Victims’ Emotive Images In War Support, Joseph Braun, Kiyoung Chang

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

When a target state violates human rights, how does the identity of the victims and the presence of emotive imagery affect the level of public support for interventionist war? How does the perceived race and gender of victims affect this relationship? We employ a survey experiment to study whether and when information about a target state’s human rights violations affects public attitudes toward the use of force. Specifically, we manipulate a fictional victim’s race (light-skinned vs. dark-skinned) and gender (male vs. female), and explore how these variations affect support for interventionist war. In our experiment, we find that war support …

The Political Personality Of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. vice president Mike Pence, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon. Information concerning Pence was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Pence’s primary personality pattern was found to …

Politics At The Intersection Of Sexuality: Examining Political Attitudes And Behaviors Of Sexual Minorities In The United States, Royal Gene Cravens Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

The existing political archetype of sexual minorities in the United States present lesbians, gays, and bisexuals as more ideologically liberal and Democratic than heterosexuals, as well as politically driven by issues specifically related to LGBT life. Ascribing political distinctiveness based solely on identification with a group, however, commits the fallacy of “difference-as-explanation” (Shields 2008:3030), equating a “shared [LGBT] history of sexual oppression and [LGBT] political sympathies” (Duong 2012:381).

Post-modern theories posit that social positions in society, i.e., socially-constructed categories of identity, exist as part of a simultaneously-experienced and mutually-reinforced “matrix of oppression” (Collins 2000:18). The personal meaning and political effects …

The Leadership Style Of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents a personality-based analysis of newly elected U.S. president Donald J. Trump’s likely leadership style as president, inferred from the results of an indirect personality assessment conducted 2015–2016 from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Trump’s predominant personality patterns were found to be Ambitious/exploitative (a measure of narcissism) and Outgoing/impulsive, infused with secondary features of the Dominant/controlling pattern and supplemented by a Dauntless/adventurous tendency.

Ambitious individuals are bold, competitive, and self-assured; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and often act as though entitled. Outgoing individuals are dramatic attention‑getters who thrive …