La Centralidad De La Personalidad Política en La Idoneidad Política: ¿un Asunto De Carisma?

Abstract

aDResearch ESIC Nº 4 Vol 4 · Segundo semestre, julio-diciembre 2011 · Págs. 64 a 79This article investigates the role of personality perception by voters in their impression of political suitability.What are the personality traits of political leaders whose perception contributes most to the electorate's impression of their political suitability? This study relies upon the central political psychology axiom that political structures are shaped and channeled by people's personalities (Winter, 2003). This axiom implies that personality factors both at the elite (leaders) and the mass level (the electorate) are believed to influence the arousal and weighting of the leaders' goals and preferences. It also follows from this axiom that the personality of the political candidate is considerably affecting how the candidate (at elite level) and how the citizens-electors (at mass level) respond or resist to cues, symbols and signs. Besides, studies on leadership from organizational research and management understated the role played by the personality in "charisma" ever since Weber (1922Weber ( , 1968 launched the concept ("charismatic authority"). This "charisma" of the political leader would nevertheless only be activated in relation to the audience (e.g. Hoffman, 2009, p.232-233).This article focuses on the assumption that the voter-audience is considered to be influenced, even steered by central-so-called politically relevant-personality impressions about the candidate. The article firstly presents a theory review on the role of personality in political success. Secondly, a method is presented that allows assessing personality as a success factor, and which is entitled "the political personality index" (e.g.De Landtsheer, Thijssen & Immelman, 2004;De Vries, 2007). A third, empirical part of the article summarizes the results of the application of the "the political personality index" on a sample with 1171 individuals. From the results can be concluded that a substantial part of the impression of political suitability is based on the perception of the candidate's personal "charisma". The interpretation of the presumed politically relevant personality patterns as furthered by this political psychology approach further indicates that contextual factors deserve more attention.Este artículo investiga el papel de la percepción de la personalidad por parte de los votantes en su impresión acerca de la idoneidad política de los candidatos. ¿Cuáles son los puntos en la personalidad de los líderes polí-ticos cuya percepción contribuye en mayor medida a la impresión del electorado sobre su idoneidad política?Este estudio se basa en el axioma de la psicología política central que defiende que las estructuras políticas toman forma y se canalizan por medio de la personalidad de cada individuo (Winter, 2003). Dicho axioma implica la creencia de que los factores de personalidad tanto en la élite (los líderes) como a nivel de la masa (el electorado) influencian la manera en la que surgen y toman importancia los objetivos y preferencias...