Keywords
personality factor
person in power
foreign policy decision making
How to Cite
Abstract
This article studies the personality factor influence in foreign policy decision making. The role of personality in power has for a long time been a matter of research interest of many psychologists, political scientists, and experts in Foreign Policy Analysis. Still, there is no universal model of personality, though elaborating it has been ongoing since 1930s. Among multiple versions of tools, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) promoted by American psychologists R. McCrae and P. Costa, Jr. currently seems to be the most promising. According to the FFM, personality can be described within the framework of five broad dimensions, such as Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Neuroticism. Each dimension is quite abstract and embraces a number of certain personality traits in hierarchical subordination – from basic biological traits to more complicated behavioral facets, so that the complex comprehension of personality structure is possible. Interpretation of the prevailing personality dimensions and their intercorrelations helps to explain the behavior of personality in power during foreign policy decision making and understand why a certain decision has been made.
The personality dimensions under the FFM directly or indirectly correspond with personality characteristics and variables basic in other current personality taxonomies. So, the key suggestion of this article is that the Five-Factor Model as a reliable tool can be used in further research of personality factor influence in foreign policy decision making.
References
Block J. (1995), A Contrarian View of the Five-Factor Approach to Personality Description, “Psychological Bulletin”, 117(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.117.2.187
Brummer K. (2023), Leadership Trait Analysis, in: Routhledge Handbook on Foreign Policy Analysis Methods, (eds.) P. A. Mello, F. Ostermann, Routhledge, London–New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003139850-19
Costa P. T. Jr., McCrae R. R. (1980), Influence of Extraversion and Neuroticism on Subjective Well-Being: Happy and Unhappy People, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”, 38(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.38.4.668
Digman J. M. (1990), Personality Structure: Emergence of the Five-Factor Model, “Annual Reviews. Psychology”, 41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ps.41.020190.002221
Eysenck H. J. (1991), Dimensions of Personality: 16, 5 or 3? – Criteria for a Taxonomic Paradigm, “Personality and Individual Differences”, 12(8). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(91)90144-Z
Gravelle T. B., Reifler J., Scotto Th. J. (2020), Personality Traits and Foreign Policy Attitudes: A Cross-National Exploratory Study, “Personality and Individual Differences” 153, Article 109607. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109607
Hatemi P. K., McDermott R. (2012), A Neurobiological Approach to Foreign Policy Analysis: Identifying Individual Differences in Political Violence, “Foreign Policy Analysis”, 8(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-8594.2011.00150.x
Hermann M. G. (1980), Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior Using the Personal Characteristics of Political Leaders, “International Studies Quarterly”, 24(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2600126
Hermann M. G. (1984), Personality and Foreign Policy Decision Making: A Study of 53 Heads of Government, in: Foreign Policy Decision Making. Perception, Cognition, and Artificial Intelligence, (eds.) D. A. Sylvan, S. Chan, Praeger Publishers, New York.
Hermann M. G., Hermann Ch. F. (1989), Who Makes Foreign Policy Decisions and How: An Empirical Inquiry, “International Studies Quarterly”, 33(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2600518
Hermann M. G., Milburn Th. W. (ed.), (1977), A Psychological Examination of Political Leaders, The Free Press, New York.
Hermann M. G., Preston Th., Korany B., Shaw T. M. (2001), Who Leads Matters: The Effects of Powerful Individuals, “International Studies Review”, 3(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1521-9488.00235
Hudson V. M. (2014), Foreign Policy Analysis. Classic and Contemporary Theory, 2d ed., Rowman & Littlefield, New York–Toronto.
Immelman A. (1993), The Assessment of Political Personality: A Psychodiagnostically Relevant Conceptualization and Methodology, “Political Psychology”, 14(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3791383
John O. P., Robins R. W. (1993), Gordon Allport: Father and Critic of the Five-Factor Model, in: Fifty Years of Personality Psychology, (eds.) K. H. Craik, R. Hogan, R. N. Wolfe, Plenum Press, New York–London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2311-0_16
John O. P., Naumann L. P., Soto Ch. J. (2008), Paradigm Shift to the Integrative Big Five Trait Taxonomy. History, Measurement, and Conceptual Issues, in: Handbook of Personality. Theory and Research, (eds.) O. P. John, R. W. Robins, L. A. Pervin, 3d ed., The Guilford Press, New York–London.
Kaarbo J. (2018), Personality and International Politics. Insights from Existing Research and Directions for the Future, “European Review”, 4(2–3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3224/eris.v4i2-3.02
McAdams D. P. (1992), The Five-Factor Model in Personality: A Critical Appraisal, “Journal of Personality”, 60(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00976.x
McCrae R. R., Costa P. T. Jr. (1997), Personality Trait Structure as a Human Universal, “American Psychologist”, 52(5). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.52.5.509
McCrae R. R., Costa P. T. Jr. (2008), The Five-Factor Theory of Personality, in: Handbook of Personality. Theory and Research, (eds.) O. P. John, R. W. Robins, L. A. Pervin, 3d ed., The Guilford Press, New York–London.
McCrae R. R., John O. P. (1992), An Introduction to the Five-Factor Model and Its Applications, “Journal of Personality”, 60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x
Mondak J. J. (2010), Personality and the Foundations of Political Behavior, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511761515
Noller P., Law H., Comrey A. L. (1987), Cattell, Comrey, and Eysenck Personality Factors Compared: More Evidence for the Five Robust Factors?, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”, 53(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.53.4.775
Paunonen S. V., Jackson D. N. (2000), What Is Beyond the Big Five? Plenty!, “Journal of Personality”, 68(5). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00117
Post J. M. (2006), Assessing Leaders at a Distance: The Political Personality Profile, in: The Psychological Assessment of Political Leaders. With Profiles of Saddam Hussein and Bill Clinton, (ed.) J. M. Post, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI.
Pyk S. (2020), “Osobystisnyy chynnyk” u procesi pryyniattia zovnishniopolitychnyh rishen’ v administracii prezydenta Dzh. Busha, “Ekonomika i Derzhava. Seriia Politolohiia” [from Ukr.: Economics and State. Political Science], 2(2): 45–50.
Pyk S. (2021a), Vplyv “osobystisnoho chynnyka” na pryyniattia zovnishniopolitychnyh rishen’ v administracii prezydenta B. Obamy, “Politicus”, 4: 105–109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24195/2414-9616.2021-4.16
Pyk S. (2021b), Vplyv osobystisnoho chynnyka na uhvalennia zovnishniopolitychnyh rishen’ v administracii prezydenta V. Klintona, “Visnyk Kyivs’koho Nacional’noho Universytetu imeni Tarasa Shevchenka” [from Ukr.: Journal of International Relations of KNU], 54(2): 9–14.
Pyk S. (2022a), “Personal Factor” Influence on the Foreign Policy Decision-Making in the President George W. Bush Administrations, in: Challenges and Prospects of the Implementation of Political, Historical, Philosophical, and Sociological Research Amidst Digitalization, Baltija Publishing, Riga, Latvia, 58–77. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30525/978-9934-26-197-8-5
Pyk S. (2022b), Vplyv “osobystisnoho chynnyka” na pryyniattia zovnishniopolitychnyh rishen’ v administracii prezydenta D. Trampa, “Visnyk Lvivs’koho Universytetu. Seriia filos.-politoloh. studii” [from Ukr.: Visnyk of the Lviv University. Series Philos.-Political Studies], 41: 151–162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30970/PPS.2022.41.20
Saucier G., Goldberg L. R. (1996), The Language of Personality: Lexical Perspectives on the Five-Factor Model, in: The Five-Factor Model of Personality: Theoretical Perspectives, (ed.) J. S. Wiggins, The Guilford Press, New York–London.
Schafer M., Walker S. G. (2023), Operational Code Analysis, in: Routhledge Handbook on Foreign Policy Analysis Methods, (eds.) P. A. Mello, F. Ostermann, Routhledge, London–New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003139850-20
Simonton D. K. (1988), Presidential Style: Personality, Biography, and Performance, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”, 55(6). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.55.6.928
Snare Ch. E. (2019), Applying Personality Theory to Foreign Policy Behavior: Evaluating Three Methods of Assessment, in: Political Psychology and Foreign Policy, (eds.) E. Singer, V. Hudson, Routledge, London–New York.
Widiger Th. A. (ed.) (2017), The Oxford Handbook of the Five-Factor Model, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Zuckerman M. (2005), Psychobiology of Personality, 2d ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813733
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Svitlana Pyk
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.