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.