To Vote or Not to Vote?: The role of personality traits on voting behavior among the immigrant population in the Netherlands

Abstract

Political integration is a vital part of the cultural integration of immigrant populations and answering the question regarding increasing immigrant votes. Although recent literature indicates that personality traits are critical determinants for a comprehensive range of social and political behaviors, the impact of personality traits on voting behavior among the immigrant population has been neglected in sociological research. Based on the Big Five Model of personality traits, this study extends the sociological research to the voting behavior of immigrants by analyzing the effect of personality traits and comparing immigrants and native Dutch citizens in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the identification level with Dutch culture is considered as a moderator predictor of the relationship between personality traits and voting behavior among the immigrant population. The results show no significant relationship between the immigrant population's personality traits and voting behavior, while it is confirmed that the Agreeableness and Extraversion dimensions are associated with voting behavior among native Dutch citizens. The limitations of the study regarding the findings are discussed together with the recommendations for further studies. The study concluded that more comprehensive and profound sociological research of personality traits on social and political behaviors is a worthwhile avenue for future research.