Neumann Craig S, Kaufman Scott Barry, Ten Brinke Leanne
University of North Texas, Denton, USA.
Columbia University, New York, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 17;15(1):13346. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-97001-7.
Research suggests that the degree of democracy in countries is correlated with certain characteristics of its citizens. A question is whether different types of government (e.g., autocratic vs. democratic) are associated with specific personality dispositions and the well-being of citizens. We addressed this question with a sample of over 200,000 persons from 75 countries. Using structural equation modeling and a strong measurement invariance approach we tested the association between national government type (autocratic, hybrid, flawed democracy, full democracy) and citizens report of socially aversive (malevolent) versus affiliative (benevolent) traits. As governments varied from autocratic to full democracy there were lower malevolent traits and higher benevolent traits. Further, established quantitative democracy indices predicted higher benevolent and lower malevolent traits in the total sample, while only benevolent traits were strongly associated with well-being. The findings highlight associations between governments and personality traits and how democratic practices might influence the well-being of its citizens.
研究表明，国家的民主程度与其公民的某些特征相关。一个问题是，不同类型的政府（例如，专制与民主）是否与特定的人格倾向和公民的幸福感有关。我们以来自75个国家的20多万人为样本解决了这个问题。使用结构方程模型和强大的测量不变性方法，我们测试了国家政府类型（专制、混合、有缺陷的民主、完全民主）与公民报告的社会厌恶（恶意）与亲和（仁慈）特质之间的关联。随着政府从专制向完全民主转变，恶意特质减少，仁慈特质增加。此外，既定的定量民主指数预测，在总样本中仁慈特质更高，恶意特质更低，而只有仁慈特质与幸福感密切相关。研究结果突出了政府与人格特质之间的关联，以及民主实践如何影响其公民的幸福感。
