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Personality Traits and Cognitive Ability in Political Selection

Author

Listed:
  • Markus Jokela

    (Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki.)

  • Jaakko Meriläinen

    (Centro de Investigación Económica and Department of Economics, ITAM.)

  • Janne Tukiainen

    (Department of Economics, University of Turku; VATT Institute for Economic Research.)

  • Åsa von Schoultz

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki.)

Abstract

We present the first comprehensive evidence on the role of cognitive ability and personality traits in the selection of electoral candidates and election of politicians. Using unique data that combine population registers and election statistics from local government elections in Finland with tests of cognitive and non-cognitive ability of men administered by the Finnish Defense Forces, we document two main findings. First, political parties select candidates who fare better than the office-eligible population in both intelligence and personality tests that capture three dimensions of cognitive and seven dimensions of non-cognitive ability. Second, elected politicians possess more desirable traits than nonelected candidates. Our results show that a voter-oriented open-list system is able to select competent, motivated, and honest representatives. We also assess the relative importance of cognitive abilities and personality traits, present evidence of no trade-offs between politician quality and descriptive representation, and illustrate that political competition may be an important contextual factor shaping selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus Jokela & Jaakko Meriläinen & Janne Tukiainen & Åsa von Schoultz, 2022. "Personality Traits and Cognitive Ability in Political Selection," Discussion Papers 152, Aboa Centre for Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp152
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kärnä, Anders & Öhberg, Patrik, 2022. "Misrepresentation and Migration," Working Paper Series 1445, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 11 May 2023.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    candidate entry; cognitive ability; election; human capital; open-list PR system; personality; political selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • P00 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - General - - - General

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