Abstract
Recent investigations have identified an ambiguous scenario of reduction in citizen involvement in traditional forms and considerable increases in contesting forms of mobilization. The interpretations of the consequences of this phenomenon are diverse, some pointing to the dangers of traditional demobilization and apathy and seeing the other defense boost for democratic deepening. For possible causes, we find clear division into two dominant perspectives. On one side we have researchers who emphasize the structural or macro factors such as the level of national economic development and the degree of openness of the political system. On the other, we found authors pointing to the importance of individual attributes, such as feelings, attitudes and values. In this second analytical perspective, however, a relevant aspect remains largely unexplored: the individual personality. Recent advances in studies in social psychology on this topic have revealed that individuals differ in terms of striking psychological traits that are reflected in more innovative or conservative, outgoing or shy, or inconsequential responsible, among other behaviors. Despite the plausible relationship between these personality types and patterns of political behavior, few studies have been developed on this conditionant of citizen engagement in different forms of political activism. This paper presents results of research that sought to test empirically some hypotheses about this relationship, specifically focusing on political protest among the Latin American public. The empirical basis for the tests consists of the data produced by the Latin American Public Project ( LAPOP ), in its 2010 wave, for a set of 17 countries. Through multivariate statistical models, we found that some of the components of personality are associated consistently contesting the way activism in the region analyzed.
Keywords:
political participation; political protest; personality; political psychology; Latin America
