Personality traits as predictors of citizen engagement with local government

Victor G. Hugg and Kelly LeRoux
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Victor G. Hugg: University of Illinois at Chicago
Kelly LeRoux: University of Illinois at Chicago

Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, 2019, vol. 2, issue 2

Abstract: Do citizens' personality traits affect their likelihood of interacting with local public officials? Using psychology's preferred approach for operationalizing personality — the "Big Five" trait framework — and two nationally-representative survey data sets from the U.S., we examine this question, and find that: (1) citizens who score higher on openness and extraversion traits have an increased likelihood of attending a local government board meeting; and (2) personality traits that predict the likelihood a citizen will contact a local government official vary based on whether that official holds an elected or non-elected position. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for citizen engagement scholarship, and outline ways to extend this research in future studies.

Keywords: Personality traits; Big five; Local government participation; Citizen engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D90 D91 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpd:articl:v:2:y:2019:i:2:jbpa.22.65

DOI: 10.30636/jbpa.22.65

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