There have been many claiming that Mitt Romney is not a true conservative. Although he has remained a frontrunner for the majority of the race, there have been continual waves of popularity from his opponents, pitting themselves as the more conservative alternative. This has raised some question of Romney’s ideological stance. However, when looking at the personality profile of Romney, he scores higher on the conservative scale than even the nation’s last republican president, George W. Bush.
In a study[1] of personality verses party organization Dana Carney, John Jost , Samuel Gosling, and Jeff Potter tested recent and past theories of personality traits of liberals and conservatives. Their findings built upon these theories which suggested that there is a direct correlation between personality and party preference. Their findings show that conservatives tend to score very high in conscientiousness and organization, while liberals score higher in regards to openness to new experiences. In 2008 the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University performed a study[2] on the personality profile of all the potential presidential candidates, which included Mitt Romney. Romney’s profile showed that his personality was very conscientious, closed-minded, dignified, dependable, and organized. According to Carney et al, these traits suggest that Romney has a conservative personality. Another study[3] in 2000 showed that George W. Bush, in comparison to Romney, was more adventurous, open-minded, and risk-taking; contrasting with Al Gore who was more conscientious, and closed-minded. Bush had a more liberal personality, yet he took the party nomination and later the presidency.
Doubts that Romney is conservative have come from his being governor of a liberal leaning state, as well as his change in stance on various issues. This could be explained by his strong drive to lead. Eric Marchant (2008) suggests that Mitt Romney is an ENTJ brain type in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This brain type is known as “the commander”. The personality is very organized, success driven, and strong in leadership. Marchant suggests that “they cannot, not lead”[4]. This could suggest why Romney has flip-flopped on certain issues, because the different situations in which he was leading could have caused him to shift his views in order to better gain support from those he was leading or attempting to lead. After reviewing the evidence, however, when it comes to personality, Romney lies with conservatives.
[1] Carney, D. R., Jost, J. T., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J (2008). The Secret Lives of Liberals and Conservatives: Personality Profiles, Interaction Styles, and the Things They Leave Behind. Political Psychology, 29(6), 807-840.
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