The Personality Profile
of 2024 Republican Presidential Contender Chris Christie
Aubrey Immelman and Joseph V. Trenzeluk
June 7, 2023
In 2015, psychodiagnostically relevant data pertaining to the personality of then New Jersey governor Chris Christie were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5. Christie ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and in June 2023 declared his candidacy in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Christie’s primary personality patterns were found to be Dominant/controlling, supplemented by secondary Ambitious/confident and Dauntless/adventurous patterns and subsidiary Outgoing/congenial and Contentious/resolute features.
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Dominant leaders enjoy the power to direct others and to evoke obedience and respect; they are tough and unsentimental and often make effective leaders.
Ambitious leaders are characteristically self-confident, competitive, daring, bold, charming, and skilled at winning others over to their causes and purposes; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and may act as though entitled.
Dauntless leaders are adventurous, individualistic, daring personalities resistant to deterrence and inclined to take calculated risks; they may be inclined to shade the truth or skirt the law.
Outgoing leaders are dramatic attention-getters who thrive on being the center of social events and are confident in their social skills and ability to charm and influence others.
Contentious leaders are individualistic and independent, tend to be outspoken or unconventional, and are frequently unhappy with the status quo.
The blend of personality patterns in Christie’s profile constitutes a composite personality type that may be described as that of a high-dominance, self-confident, risk-taking extravert.
Of particular note, the amalgam of Dominant (aggressive) and Contentious (negativistic) patterns in Christie’s profile suggests benign elements of Millon’s abrasive negativist syndrome. For these personalities, minor frictions easily escalate into personal confrontations and power struggles. They are quick to spot inconsistencies in others’ actions or ethical standards and adept at constructing arguments that amplify those contradictions. They characteristically take the moral high ground, dogmatically and contemptuously expose their antagonists’ perceived hypocrisy, and scornfully turn on those who cross their path.
The Personality Profile of Republican Presidential Contender Chris Christie (Brief Report). Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, St. John’s University/College of St. Benedict, June 2023. Abstract and link for full-text (2 pages; PDF) download at Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/140/
Presidential Electability Index (political impact) score
Chris Christie scores moderate to high on the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria-based Presidential Electability Index (PEI), which has accurately predicted the outcome of every presidential election from 1996 to 2016.
Chris Christie
Presidential Electability Index
Range: 25–47
PEI = 25–47 (36 ±11)
| Scale: | 1A | 1B | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5A | 5B | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Lower limit: | 14 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Upper limit: | 24 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Lower limit PEI: [Extraversion (scale 3) = 4] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 7] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 14] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (2 – 2) = 0] = 25 – 0 = 25
Upper limit PEI: [Extraversion (scale 3) = 11] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 12] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 24] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (2 – 2) = 0] = 47 – 0 = 47
Related page
Chris Christie (2016) » http://personality-politics.org/chris-christie
SIDEBAR
Chris Christie’s takedown of Marco Rubio in the 2016 New Hampshire Republican debate
Note: Marco Rubio’s construction “dispel with” (see excerpts from transcript below) is poor English usage; he should have said “dispense with” — or simply “dispel.”
“And let’s dispel once and for all with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Barack Obama is undertaking a systematic effort to change this country, to make America more like the rest of the world.”
“Let’s dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He is trying to change this country. He wants America to become more like the rest of the world.”
Related reports on this site
Joe Biden » http://personality-politics.org/joe-biden-2024
Ron DeSantis » http://personality-politics.org/ron-desantis
Mike Pence » http://personality-politics.org/mike-pence-2024
Donald Trump » http://personality-politics.org/donald-trump-2024
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