Open versus Closed

"Debates over redistribution, social welfare, and market regulation are central to American politics. Why do some of us prefer a large role for government in the economic life of the nation while others prefer a smaller role? In Open Versus Closed, the authors argue that these preferences are not always what they seem. They show how deep-seated personality traits underpinning the culture wars over race and immigration, sexuality, gender roles, and religion influence debates about economics, binding cultural and economic preferences together in unexpected ways. Integrating insights from both psychology and political science - and twenty years of observational and experimental data - the authors reveal the deeper motivations driving attitudes toward government. The book concludes that for the politically engaged these attitudes are not primarily driven by self-interest but by a desire to express the traits and cultural commitments that define their identities"--

Covariance Structure Model for Latent Openness in the 2011 YouGov Study.

Cover; Half-title; Title page; Copyright information; Dedication; Table of contents; List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; 1 Personality and the Foundations of Economic Preferences; Personality and Ideology; Instrumental Motives Linking Personality and Politics; Expressive Motives Linking Personality and Politics; Choosing Whom to Believe; Openness, Political Engagement, and the Reversal Effect; The Importance of Cultural Conflict; Overview of Chapters; 2 The Psychology of Ideology; Open and Closed; Research on Personality and Political Preferences.

Existential Motives, Epistemic Needs, and Political PreferencesValues and Moral Foundations; The Big Five Traits and Politics; Do Dispositional Influences on Politics Have a Biological Foundation?; Limits of Previous Research; Is the Impact of Openness Limited to Cultural Liberalism and Conservatism?; How Does the Psychological Become Political?; Conclusion; 3 A Dual-Pathway Model of Openness and Economic Preferences; Personality and Economic Preferences among the Politically Unengaged; Openness and Economic Opinion among the Politically Engaged; Political Engagement and Self-Expression.

Personality and Partisan PoliticsF…