John Kasich

The Personality Profile of 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate John Kasich

April 18, 2016

A psychological analysis of Ohio governor John Kasich — a contender for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election — by Timothy Immelman, Katherine Jennissen, Brianna Kupser, Jeremy Reller, Samantha Womeldorf, Joe Trenzeluk, and Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, revealed that Kasich’s primary personality patterns are Dominant/asserting and Accommodating/cooperative, with secondary Ambitious/confident and Outgoing/congenial features. In summary, Kasich’s personality composite can be characterized as a forceful mediator. (Note: This is a pilot study with a lower confidence level than comparable studies of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Hillary Clinton.)

Poster - John Kasich 2016

Click on image for larger view


Note: Personal Electability Index (political impact) score

John Kasich scores relatively low on the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria-based Personal Electability Index, which has accurately predicted the outcome of every presidential election since 1996.

Following are the PEI calculations for John Kasich:

John Kasich: PEI = 14

Scale: 1A 1B 2 3 4 5A 5B 6 7 8
Score: 7 3 4 3 5 1 3 2 0 0

Scale: 1A = 7; 2 = 4; 3 = 3; 6 = 2; 8 = 0

[Extraversion (scale 3) = 3] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 4] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 7] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (2 – 2) = 0] = 14 – 0 = 14

Following are the PEI calculations for Kasich’s rivals:

Bernie Sanders: PEI = 18

Scale: 1A 1B 2 3 4 5A 5B 6 7 8
Score: 13 5 6 3 5 0 8 3 0 4

Scale: 1A = 13; 2 = 6; 3 = 3; 6 = 3; 8 = 4

[Extraversion (scale 3) = 3] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 6] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 13] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 4] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (4 – 4) = 0] = 22 – 4 = 18

Ted Cruz: PEI = 25

Scale: 1A 1B 2 3 4 5A 5B 6 7 8
Score: 13 6 8 4 0 0 4 2 0 0

Scale: 1A = 13; 2 = 8; 3 = 4; 6 = 2; 8 = 0

[Extraversion (scale 3) = 4] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 8] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 13] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (2 – 2) = 0] = 25 – 0 = 25

Hillary Clinton: PEI = 29 (dysfunctionality adjusted)

Scale: 1A 1B 2 3 4 5A 5B 6 7 8
Score: 15 2 15 1 0 0 0 6 0 0

[Extraversion (scale 3) = 1] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 15] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 15] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (6 – 4)  = 2] = 31 – 2 = 29

Donald Trump: PEI = 45 (dysfunctionality adjusted)

Scale: 1A 1B 2 3 4 5A 5B 6 7 8
Score: 19 11 24 19 1 0 6 2 1 0

Scale: 1A = 19; 2 = 24; 3 =19; 6 = 2; 8 = 0

[Extraversion (scale 3) = 15] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 15] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 15] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (2 – 2) = 0] = 45 – 0 = 45


Update

2016-S&CD_Immelman&Immelman
Research director Aubrey Immelman (left) with Tim Immelman (right), who presented “The Political Personality of 2016 Presidential Contender John Kasich” (by Timothy Immelman, Katherine Jennissen, Brianna Kupser, Jeremy Reller, Samantha Womeldorf, and Joe Trenzeluk) at Scholarship and Creativity Day, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, April 21, 2016. (Click photo for full-size image)


Related reports on this site

Projecting the Winner of the 2016 Presidential Election: The Personal Electability Index (Feb. 29, 2016)
Donald-Trump_Hillary-Clinton_Getty-Images
Getty Images

The Personality Profile of 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz (Sept. 6, 2015)
Ted Cruz poster 2015-09
Click on image for larger view

The Personality Profile of 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump (Aug. 9, 2015)
Trump poster (July 2015)
Click on image for larger view

Comparative Psychological Profiles of the GOP Field (Aug. 6, 2015)
Fox News candidates on stage

Republican Presidential Candidate Profiles, Polling, and Debates (May 31, 2015)


Republican presidential contenders (from left to right and top to bottom) Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Rick Santorum (Photo credits: Gage Skidmore, officeholder official portraits / Wikipedia)