Openness to Experience is by far the strongest (negative) correlate of conservatism, but that there is little evidence to suggest that this association is causal

Osborne, Danny, Nicole Satherley, and Chris G. Sibley. 2021. “Personality and Ideology: A Meta-analysis of the Reliable, but Non-causal, Association Between Openness and Conservatism.” PsyArXiv. August 10. doi:10.31234/osf.io/esrku

Abstract: Research over the last three decades reveals that Openness to Experience—a personality trait that captures interest in novelty, creativity, unconventionalism, and open-mindedness—correlates negatively with political conservatism. Here, we summarise this vast literature by meta-analysing 232 unique samples (N = 575,691) that examine the relationship between the Big Five and conservatism. Results reveal that the negative relationship between Openness to Experience and conservatism is nearly twice as big as the next strongest correlation between personality and ideology (namely, Conscientiousness and conservatism; rs = −.145 and .076, respectively). The associations between traits and conservatism were, however, substantively smaller in non-WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) countries. We conclude by reviewing recent longitudinal work demonstrating that Openness to Experience and conservatism are non-causally related. Collectively, our chapter shows that Openness to Experience is by far the strongest (negative) correlate of conservatism, but that there is little evidence to suggest that this association is causal.