In politics, “having a dark personality has become an electoral asset”

The leaders who show signs of narcissism. Furthermore, ruthlessability are supported by an electorate with more extreme opinions, according to a study in which the University of Lausanne participated. Similarly, – Politics, "having dark personality become

In recent years, the rise of political characters such as the American president Donald Trump or the Argentinian Javier Milei, who has managed the politics, “having dark personality become chainsaw, has brought more than one to question the role of personality and image in international affairs. In addition, Donald Trump, who said “I direct the country and the world,”, is he driven by pure ego? Consequently, Does it act according to the “Fou strategyExternal link»?

The echo rooms that people find on the Internet. However, in the partisan media play a role in the distance from the communities; Economic problems can also arouse animosity. For example, But what is the share of responsibility of politicians -. Therefore, their personality – in the fact of setting up the populations against each other?

“The internal effect” – Politics, "having dark personality become

A study carried out by Swiss researchersExternal link and Dutch has a certain link. Therefore, In an analysis of 40 elections in the world between 2016. However, 2021, the results show that politicians and politicians with “dark personality traits”-narcissism, Machiavellianism and politics, “having dark personality become psychopathy (or black triad)-have tended to be supported by an electorate with higher levels of “emotional polarization”, that is to say emotional aversion to people who do not share their opinions.

According to the study. Consequently, which focused on 91 leading political figures, including Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, the link between personality and polarization is not generalized. Moreover, Rather. Moreover, it notes a significant “internal effect”: the association was only observed in the electorate which was already identified closely with the ideology of the political figure in question. Those who did not support this person’s ideas so much were not affected.

The study therefore confirms the previous conclusions according to which “women. politicians, often populist, with a dark, divisive and uncompromising personality […] tend to be hated by the general public, while being rather popular among the most aggressive electricities and voters. ”

Furthermore, the politics, “having dark personality become effect is not limited to one side of the political spectrum. Neither dark personalities nor polarization are phenomena exclusively left or right. However. scientists write that “dark features seem to be particularly widespread among autocrats and populists, which suggests a potentially harmful intersection between intransigent leaders, democratic deconolidation and emotional polarization”.

Supply. demand

Frederico Ferreira da Silva, who co -wrote the article in March 2025 when he was at the University of Lausanne, affirms that the results do not show the exact mechanism by which the personality of women and politicians influences the position of their most fervent support. “The study shows an association, but is unable to identify the cause,” he explains.

As such. research cannot resolve the question of whether emotional polarization is a question of supply (“the elites lead the masses”) or demand (“fill a market gap”), adds Frederico Ferreira da Silva. Overall, he thinks that the dynamics are more descending than ascending. But there are elements of both.

“The recent elections in the world show an increasing number of political figures with whom we find the black triad. ” he adds. And they are clearly sought after: “having a dark personality has even become an electoral asset”.

politics, “having dark personality become

Democracy problems

At the same time, studies often show that the electorate is influenced by the candidates he prefers. This can mean that it is influenced on the ideological level or. as in the present case, on the emotional level. This can have a direct impact on democracy. especially since “many indicators tend to show that the most polarized people are also those who most support the erosion of democratic standards”, explains Frederico Ferreira da Silva.

This “emotional” impact is added to the more direct actions of certain political figures who have chosen autocratic paths. in recent years. Indeed. when it comes to democratic decline, specialists also oppose the causes linked to supply and demand, some stressing that economic or societal problems do not explain everything and that “the ruling elites always have their importance”.

“Understand why. how such characters have decided to ignore democratic constraints weighing on politics, “having dark personality become their power once in office – and why these constraints were not enough to contain them – should be at the heart of understanding the disturbing decline in democracy in the world, both in economically strong and economically weak countries,” recently wrote Thomas CAROTHERS and BRENDAN HARTNET in the journal Journal of DemocracyExternal link.

A “lack of ideas”

For its part. Frederico Ferreira da Silva believes that the rise of dark personalities is symptomatic of a larger problem, namely a “lack of ideas or political projects in contemporary societies”. This lack of substance leads to a policy more focused on personality. to debates which aim more to “shoot the other camp”, he says.

He also does not have a miracle proposal to change things. There is not much to do to influence the type of people who present themselves in the elections, he underlines. And given the politics, “having dark personality become current success of these personalities, the parties are hardly encouraged to present more moderate candidates.

However. it mentions the media as being particularly important, which is a large part of what feeds affective polarization is a question of communication. “The United States, in particular, has a big problem with the partisan media.” In Europe, where things are not as radicalized, it is “largely because the media generally remain independent”.

In Switzerland. which has not been included in the study, Frederico Ferreira da Silva claims that emotional polarization is oriented towards parties more than political figures.

Although emotional polarization in Switzerland is not deemed as serious as elsewhere, divisions and tensions exist:

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In Switzerland. antipathy with regard to people from another political edge remains stable for 20 years

This content was published on May 22. 2024 A new study by the University of Basel shows that in Switzerland, emotional cleavages in politics have not been strengthened.

Read more in Switzerland. antipathy with regard to people from another political edge has been stable for 20 years

Rely and verified by Benjamin von Wyl/TS. Translated from English using an automatic translation tool by Emilie Ridard/Ptur