Personality and Roots of Welfare State Support: How Openness to Experience Moderates the Influence of Self-Interest and Ideology on Redistributive Preferences

Abstract

It is still debated whether people are driven by self-interest or ideological motives when judging redistributive policies of the welfare state. Drawing on personality research, we suggest that both material and ideational factors matter but not for the same kinds of individuals. Specifically, we theorize that the Big Five personality trait openness to experience increases the weight put on general ideological principles and reduces the importance of private economic concerns, as this trait is related to creative and philosophical thinking and uncertainty tolerance. To test this proposition, we use Danish survey panel data linked to registry data on income. Consistent with the argument, we find that higher openness promotes an ideological evaluation of income redistribution and depresses the influence of material self-interest as measured by income. Among open individuals, attitudes toward redistribution reflect left–right positions but are unrelated to personal income fluctuations. People who are close-minded, on the other hand, are less likely to be ideological and do base their support for redistribution on whether their income is rising or falling. Similar, although not identical, results are obtained using U.S. data. The findings have implications for our understanding of citizens’ motivations to support welfare policies and political opinion formation more broadly.