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State-level personality and presidential vote share in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections
Journal article   Peer reviewed

State-level personality and presidential vote share in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections

James M. Avery, David Lester and Bijou Yang
The Social science journal (Fort Collins), v 52(2), pp 112-122
01 Jun 2015

Abstract

Citizen liberalism Personality Policy mood Presidential vote Subcultures White racial prejudice
Recent research has examined how variation across the states in the "Big Five" personality trait taxonomy helps explain the proportion of votes the presidential candidates receive in the states, concluding that state personality traits had a direct effect on presidential vote share in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential elections. The current study has three goals: First, to examine the influence of personality traits on Barack Obama's vote share in the 2008 and 2012 elections; second to test whether the influence of personality traits on vote share holds under stricter controls for political factors and white racial prejudice; and, third, to test for potential meditating effects of state-level political characteristics and white racial prejudice in linking state-level personality traits with Obama's vote share. The findings indicate that two state personality traits - conscientiousness and openness - had indirect effects on Obama's 2008 and 2012 vote share through their influence on state ideology, partisanship, and white racial prejudice.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
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