Personality Profile of Marco Rubio

The Personality Profile of 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate Marco Rubio

February 15, 2016

A psychological analysis of Florida senator Marco Rubio — a contender for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election — by Joe Trenzeluk and Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics, revealed that Rubio’s primary personality pattern is Ambitious / confident and Outgoing / congenial, with secondary Conscientious / respectful and Accommodating / cooperative features. In summary, Rubio’s personality composite can be characterized as an ambitious and charming, cautious pleaser.

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Summary of the major findings of the study, as published in an opinion column in the St. Cloud Times (Joe Trenzeluk, St. Cloud Times, Feb 14, 2016) — A common criticism of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a contender in this year’s chaotic presidential election, is that his youthful vigor and optimistic charisma are eerily reminiscent of Barack Obama [link added]. However, over the past few weeks even more critical verbal bombs have been thrown his way. … Full report

Note: Personal Electability Index (political impact) score

Marco Rubio 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 Marco Rubio:

Marco Rubio: PEI = 15


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

Scale: 1A = 3; 2 = 7; 3 = 6; 6 = 5; 8 = 0

[Extraversion (scale 3) = 6] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 7] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 3] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (5 – 4) = 1] = 16 – 1 = 15

Following are the PEI calculations for Rubio’s top-tier GOP rivals:

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

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

Jeb Bush: PEI = (–)3


Scale:	1A	1B	2	3	4	5A	5B	6	7	8
Score:	9	3	8	1	5	1	5	15	4	10

Scale: 1A = 9; 2 = 8; 3 = 1; 6 = 15; 8 = 10

[Extraversion (scale 3) = 1] + [Narcissism (scale 2) = 8] + [Dominance (scale 1A) = 9] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 10] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (15 – 4) = 11] = 18 – 21 = (-)3

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Update

Joe Trenzeluk (left) presented “The Political Personality of 2016 Republican Presidential Hopeful Marco Rubio” at Scholarship and Creativity Day, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, April 21, 2016. (Click photo for full-size image)

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