The peculiar personality of strongmen: comparing the Big Five and Dark Triad traits of autocrats and non-autocrats

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations between Big Five and Dark triad traits, all candidates.

			Correlations
	M	SD		E	A	C	Es	O	N	P	M
E	2.41	0.71	coef	.
			sig
A	1.73	0.72	coef	−0.23	.
			sig	0.004
C	2.66	0.67	coef	−0.19	0.42	.
			sig	0.015	0.000
Es	2.20	0.80	coef	−0.38	0.72	0.68	.
			sig	0.000	0.000	0.000
O	1.97	0.69	coef	0.38	0.36	0.30	0.20	.
			sig	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.012
N	2.83	0.63	coef	0.44	−0.48	−0.44	−0.57	−0.16	.
			sig	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.052
P	2.23	0.81	coef	0.20	−0.72	−0.51	−0.63	−0.43	0.66	.
			sig	0.013	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
M	2.24	0.75	coef	0.30	−0.49	−0.45	−0.47	−0.30	0.74	0.76	.
			sig	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000

Note: all variables vary between 0 ‘very low’ and 4 ‘very high’. N = 157.

E ‘Extraversion’; A ‘Agreeableness’; C ‘Conscientiousness’; Es ‘Emotional stability’; O ‘Openness’; N ‘Narcissism’; P ‘Psychopathy’; M ‘Machiavellianism’.

Figure 1. Personality profile of all candidates. Note: all variables vary between 0 ‘very low’ and 4 ‘very high’. N = 157. E ‘Extraversion’; A ‘Agreeableness’; C ‘Conscientiousness’; Es ‘Emotional stability’; O ‘Openness’; N ‘Narcissism’; P ‘Psychopathy’; M ‘Machiavellianism’. + Indicates extreme values (more than 1.5 * interquartile range away from the median).

Figure 2. Personality profile of autocrats. Note: all variables vary between 0 ‘very low’ and 4 ‘very high’. The light-grey dotted area represents the average score of autocrats on all personality traits. The darker bold outline represents the profile of the candidate. E ‘Extraversion’; A ‘Agreeableness’; C ‘Conscientiousness’; Es ‘Emotional stability’; O ‘Openness’; N ‘Narcissism’; P ‘Psychopathy’; M ‘Machiavellianism’.

Figure 3. Personality profile of autocrats and non-autocrats. E ‘Extraversion’; A ‘Agreeableness’; C ‘Conscientiousness’; Es ‘Emotional stability’; O ‘Openness’; N ‘Narcissism’; P ‘Psychopathy’; M ‘Machiavellianism’. All variables vary between 0 ‘very low’ and 4 ‘very high’. N(Autocrats) = 14. N(Non-Autocrats) = 143. N(Left) = 59. N(Centre) = 25. N(Right) = 59.

Figure 4. Second-order factors. a. Loadings plot: personality components scores on underlying dimensions. b. Scatterplot: candidates scores on underlying dimensions. Note: The figure reports scores form a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). E ‘Extraversion’; A ‘Agreeableness’; C ‘Conscientiousness’; Es ‘Emotional stability’; O ‘Openness’; N ‘Narcissism’; P ‘Psychopathy’; M ‘Machiavellianism’. All variables vary between 0 ‘very low’ and 4 ‘very high’.