Members of right‑leaning parties prefer leaders with dark triad personality
4 hours ago
- Research explored links between personality traits, including the dark triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy), and membership in UK political parties.
- Conservative and Reform UK members scored higher on dark triad measures compared to Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Green members.
- Party members with stronger dark triad traits were more likely to favor leaders displaying similar dark characteristics.
- Reform UK and Conservative members tend to prefer populist leaders like Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, who personify traits such as self-confidence and a take-no-prisoners attitude.
- The findings suggest a psychological convergence between centre-right and populist radical right parties, and between left-leaning parties, reinforcing a two-bloc political system.
- This psychological alignment has implications for tactical voting in the next general election, with voters likely supporting the best-placed candidate within their bloc.