Personality and Euroscepticism: the impact of personality on attitudes towards the EU

Abstract:

Attitudes towards EU integration are widely studied, yet we know only little about the role of personality for EU attitudes. Utilizing a framing experiment encompassing positive and negative frames of EU integration, this article reports on how personality influences attitudes towards EU integration, and how personal predispositions moderate framing effects, impacting EU attitude formation.

The study relies on Danish and Swedish data (N = 1808). I test both the direct impact of personality on EU attitudes and personality's moderating impact on framing effects. I find that extraversion and openness positively correlate with positive EU attitudes, while people scoring high on neuroticism tend to support the EU less. Furthermore, I find that personality moderates different EU frames. Individuals with certain personality traits are more influenced by framing effects than others, while positive and negative frames also are perceived differently according to personal predispositions. I find only little country differences between Denmark and Sweden.