Individual differences and political contexts: the role of personality traits and direct democracy in explaining political protest

Building on a growing literature concerned with the link between psychological dispositions and political protest behavior, we argue that this relationship is not universal, but rather depends on contextual factors. Political context factors are able to alter the meaning and understanding of partici...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ackermann, Kathrin (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: Swiss political science review
Year: 2016, Volume: 23, Issue: 1, Pages: 21-49
ISSN:1662-6370
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12227
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12227
Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/spsr.12227
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Author Notes:Kathrin Ackermann, University of Bern
Description
Summary:Building on a growing literature concerned with the link between psychological dispositions and political protest behavior, we argue that this relationship is not universal, but rather depends on contextual factors. Political context factors are able to alter the meaning and understanding of participatory repertoires. This, in turn, leads to differential effects of personality on participation. We argue that direct democracy constitutes such a political context that can act as moderating factor with regard to protest participation. In order to test this interaction between person and situation empirically, we conduct a subnational comparative analysis of the Swiss cantons. Hierarchical regression models reveal that the personality traits openness to experience and extraversion affect protest behavior directly. Most importantly, however, the link between openness to experience and protest participation is significantly moderated by direct democracy. This provides evidence for variance in the situational expression of personality traits.
Item Description:First published: 15 November 2016
Gesehen am 14.04.2021
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1662-6370
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12227