We will wrap up our U.S. Political Personality series by discussing the top ten issues chosen by people who participated in our U.S. presidential election survey. If you have not yet done so, we also encourage you to take a look at the three previous articles in the series – Parties, Voter Involvement, and Presidential Candidates.
We asked our 1600+ American respondents, “What issue matters most to you when deciding which candidate to support?” We will discuss each issue below, in order of popularity, also covering the personality traits which might influence an individual to focus on one issue more than others. While not designed to be exhaustive or reflective of the whole American population, we hope you will find this analysis useful.
Economy and Jobs
This was the most popular issue for persons of every personality Trait, Type, Role, or Strategy who responded. And why not? There’s little more important than financial security, and we want a president who will set the right tone and policies. The roof over our heads, the food on our plates and our quality of life may depend on it. 38% of men and 27% of women chose this as their primary issue.
The two trait dyads that were most distinct from each other are the Thinking vs. Feeling (36% and 27% respectively), and the Observant vs. Intuitive (35% and 30% respectively). Perhaps the Thinking and Observant traits are better predictors of who chooses this issue because of the concrete and analytical way the economy is usually presented by the media. Beyond their own experiences, Americans hear about the general economy and job health through statistics released each month. It’s coldly detached from the experience of real people. This may not resonate with those personality types who rely on the Feeling and Intuitive traits. Maybe, if the media presented the economic picture each month as accounts of specific personal struggles, Diplomats and others with the Feeling trait would respond in a stronger way.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Environment
Oddly, this concern for the environment, external to us all, is most embraced by personalities with the more internal Introverted and Intuitive traits. Introverts tend to have a higher sensitivity to their environments. They retreat because they need to muffle the constant stimulation of the external world especially if it is filled with people. It might be a little broad to say they are more environmentally aware because of this sensitivity. However, it is an idea worth exploring further.
One of the main principles of environmental studies is that the environment is an interconnected system. This style of understanding the issue would appeal to Intuitive people. They have a tendency to naturally connect things anyway.
The practical Sentinel personality types are the group least likely to regard the environment as a pressing issue. They may be a little like the guy they interview on TV who says there’s no global warning because he experienced a blizzard in Buffalo the night before. They’re more likely to trust what they see in front of them and the world around them might just look okay at this moment. Also, Sentinels and conservative thought are often aligned. The current position held by the majority of American conservatives is that climate change is a hoax. This belief might affect how some Sentinels respond to this issue.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Disrupting the Status Quo
2016 is a big year for our number three issue. Both Trump and Sanders are not your typical candidates, and they promise an unusual presidency should either win. That they are both as popular as they are suggests that maybe people are looking for something different. Americans may be in the mood to shake things up.
The most significant contrast is again between the Intuitive and the Observant personality types (11% vs. 6%). The Intuitive Analysts are the most likely to endorse this issue. In a sense, Analysts are always disrupting the status quo in some way. They learn how a structured entity works, pull it apart in their minds, and then figure out how to understand it better or how to make it more useful, or more effective. Transforming the existing state of things comes naturally to them. There’s no reason government or politics should not also be the object of their passion.
The Analysts’ cousins, the Diplomats, do something similar, but it’s focused on people and improving social constructs. They are the second most likely group to choose this issue. For both Analyst and Diplomat personality types, this tendency to disrupt is magnified if they also rely on the Prospecting trait, with Debaters (ENTP) having the highest score of 17%.
In contrast, Sentinels are more likely to try to preserve the status quo. We often find them in the position of protecting their world from the changes the Intuitive Roles are pushing. They are likely to answer the Analysts and Diplomats with a big “No, thanks” when they try to bother with that which is already in place.
While Explorer personalities embrace change and they wouldn’t try to protect the status quo, they would be more interested in dealing with the world as they see it. They like to make things go well, which often means accepting change. However, it’s more a question of blending change into doing something masterfully than it is shaking up a system.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Healthcare
Obamacare serves as a favored punching bag among Republicans. The United States is still holding on to its market-based healthcare system. These things often create points of contention within political debates. Different Americans along the political spectrum hold very different positions on whether healthcare is a basic human right or not. The question the people of the United States have been debating for decades is: “What role does the government play in healthcare?”
From the personality perspective, the gap between Introversion and Extraversion (7% and 4% respectively) was the greatest of all the trait dyads. Introverts are significantly more likely to worry about their physical health and well-being compared to Extraverts, and the fact that so many of them picked healthcare as issue #1 may be a reflection of that.
Feeling and Turbulent traits also scored much higher than their Thinking and Assertive counterparts. Those with the Feeling trait would naturally connect with the welfare of others and healthcare would be an obvious interest. Turbulent personalities may project their own uncertainties onto other issues that reflect uncertainty. An uncertain healthcare system might cause a lot of concern for them.
This is a natural topic of interest for the caring Diplomat personality types. They scored the highest among the Roles. They would connect with the inherent concept of making healthcare available to as many people as possible. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they agree on the method of doing that. Nonetheless, those with the Feeling trait represented the highest portion of those who identified with this issue.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Foreign Policy
Foreign policy is an attempt, albeit a daunting one, to set rules so that we can have some sense of how to co-exist effectively with other countries. It organizes our strategies for dealing with them. In many ways, it defines our role in the world community. A lot of what goes on under the name of “foreign policy” also sets the tone for our safety and prosperity.
Extraversion and Judging are the personality traits that stand out most in support of this issue. Judging speaks to order and trying to keep or maintain certainty. This is basically how foreign policy influences the world stage. The appeal for Extraverts might be an extension of what Extraverts do on an individual level – reaching out to others and connecting. There is an idea of reaching out to other countries built into the idea of foreign policy. Extraverts might feel that their approach to their world is good for them, so why wouldn’t it be of importance to the country.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
National Security
Since the jarring events of 9/11, Americans have had a different perspective on national security. They used to feel more insulated by the oceans on both coasts. Now, they feel less safe. The intrusive Patriot Act and the NSA were born out of the rubble of Twin Towers. The sense of security is not what it once was. Many Americans worry that there has not been enough done to protect their shores.
Sentinels are the highest Role to support national security. The label “Sentinel” almost says it with no need for explanation. No matter what their role in life, they are watchmen and gatekeepers on some level. National security is a perfect extension of that. While everybody wants their families and communities safe, there is a deeper sense of mission among Sentinel personality types about such things. From the Strategies perspective, it is clear that Confident Individualists feel most strongly about this issue, perhaps a reflection of their independent, self-sufficient streak.
Those with the Observant trait and the Judging trait were more likely to endorse this issue than their counterparts. Not so the Intuitive personalities who might have a more global view of the world. They may be less willing to see the world in an “us vs. them” mindset that often goes with national security. On the other hand, Observant people may see that there are real enemies who do real harm. An “us vs. them” mindset might satisfy their more practical way of looking at things. Military preparedness would resonate among those with the Judging trait.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Race Relations
Until recently, it seems that race had disappeared as a hot button topic. After all, isn’t America supposed to be in a post-civil rights era? Just looking around the schools and businesses, it’s clear Americans live in a “melting pot” of ethnicities. But then there were some shootings. The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement began grabbing more headlines and many started questioning the assumed progress in U.S. race relations.
Obviously, this is an issue Diplomat personality types would freely embrace. It has all the things that grab their interest. It directly involves humanity, the pursuit of things being better, advocating harmony, and a cause. In our survey, the other Roles were clustered close together, with Diplomats clearly more concerned about this issue than the others.
There was not a big gap between Extraversion and Introversion, or Assertive and Turbulent traits. However, if we average all the Strategies, we find Social Engagement significantly above all others on this issue. So, why would this be?
The people with this Strategy are more likely to be out in the crowded world more often. These personalities are sensitive to how people view them, and by extension of that, they may find it easier to sense racial tensions and potential inequality. From their everyday experience, Social Engagers may feel that there are still some ugly undercurrents in the melting pot.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Immigration
For an issue that launched Donald Trump’s campaign, the percentage of respondents who felt this issue was primary is somewhat small. It is clearly a Sentinel’s issue, with this Role scoring significantly higher than the others.
The survey did not differentiate between those who wanted tougher border control, and those who wanted a more lenient immigration policy. It’s not hard to imagine that a changing demographic might be unsettling for some Sentinel personalities, depending on their other traits. They are probably more concerned with control. Such a population change might feel a bit disorderly and chaotic to them. Some among them may see stronger immigration laws as one way to bring order to a sense of chaotic change.
From the trait perspective, Extraverted and Observant personality types were more concerned with immigration than their Introverted and Intuitive counterparts. As immigration is primarily about the movement of people and their impact on society, it is understandable that the more socially and practically oriented individuals feel more affected by it.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Taxes
Like the early Bostonians, the Tea Party started as a one-issue movement. They wanted to pay less in taxes. They felt that reducing the size of government would do that. They have since grown into a more comprehensive conservative movement, taking on immigration and social issues as well. While still very much a minority, this movement has had a significant impact on American politics by pulling the Republican Party to the right.
However, among our respondents, this issue was not a large concern. Once again, Sentinel personality types are the group most concerned with taxes. Our surveys consistently show them as more conservative individuals, and perhaps this indicates a Tea Party influence.
On the other hand, the Diplomats were least likely to think of taxes as the most pressing issue. Perhaps they see taxes as a contribution to the greater good rather than a burden on the individual. After all, the Diplomats were the group most likely to support Sanders with his universal healthcare, free education, and other programs that would likely increase taxes. Diplomat personalities are typically more interested in people than money.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Religion
Ted Cruz famously declared himself a warrior for religious freedom. Some people, who are not Ted Cruz, would say that same-sex marriage and the right to choose an abortion doesn’t threaten anybody’s religious rights. Some argue about whether Christian prayer should start the public school day. When it comes to government, what is its role, if any, with regard to religion? At what point, if any, does secularism interfere with the rights of believers?
This is a personality site, so, it’s not our job to answer these questions – thank goodness. But those are probably some of the concerns that make religion an issue during a presidential election. This is another issue that Sentinels like. That would be expected since tradition, which often includes traditional religious practice and religious ethics, is important to them.
Interestingly, the Diplomats are a close second to the Sentinels. Diplomat personality types are usually seen as more open-minded and more tolerant of the views of others (within limits) than Sentinels. That doesn’t mean they won’t argue their position or cause fiercely at times. But one ear will be open to what the other person is saying, and their natural empathy demands there be some attempt to respect them even while disagreeing. So why would so many of them consider this cause to be their primary issue? Is it because Diplomats tend to describe themselves as spiritual? Probably not. It’s a loosely defined way of being. It’s hard to see how spirituality would become a political issue.
Perhaps, if we flip the coin over, it’s the word “freedom” that is often attached to this issue. Religious freedom means the freedom not to adhere to traditional religious values if one chooses. We can only speculate without further investigation, but it may be that, for Diplomat personalities, the religion issue is about fewer religious boundaries, not more of them. It might also involve a recognition that America has many religions, and might entail a desire to promote tolerance of other beliefs. It would not be hard to see Diplomats being champions for Muslims in the case of a Trump administration.
Traits
Roles
Strategies
Some Final Words
Politics is a rich, multifaceted topic, and that becomes especially obvious in contentious elections. We are still in the primaries at the time of this writing – yet we can already see so many intriguing links between one’s personality traits and party affiliation, candidate preferences, voting behaviors, or issue rankings, that it is difficult to resist writing another dozen articles on this subject. What role do gender and age play in political preferences? Which personalities are more likely to believe the media does not treat their candidate fairly, and do those views differ depending on their chosen party? Are there any links between someone’s political preferences and their ambition or optimism, for example?
We may discuss these and other topics in future articles – but for now, let’s stop here. We hope you have found some unexpected and thought-provoking insights in this series. If you have any comments or questions regarding any of our statements or survey data, please share them below!