Journal Article
Stay loyal or exit the party? How openness to experience and extroversion explain vote switching
Publication details
Summary
Following Hirschman, voters who are discontent with the party they voted
for have two options: exit the party and vote for another or stay
loyal. The inclination to exit or stay loyal is rooted in the Five
Factor Model (FFM) of personality. We test our argument in two panel
studies in Denmark and the United Kingdom. We find that citizens open to
experience are more likely to switch parties since they are more likely
to think about alternatives and take risks. Extroverts identify and
commit themselves to organizations and stay loyal in Denmark, but we do
not confirm this pattern in the United Kingdom. Our findings demonstrate
that electoral volatility is, at least partly, rooted in personality.
Notes
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