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.)

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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 1) = 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 1) = 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 1) = 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 1) = 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 1) = 15] – [Introversion (scale 8) = 0] – [Conscientiousness (scale 6) = (2 – 2) = 0] = 45 – 0 = 45

4/22/2016 Update

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)

Catherine Lundstrom (left) and Christian Grande (right) presented “The Political Personality of 2016 Presidential Contender Bernie Sanders” (by Catherine Lundstrom, Hanae Nakamoto, Jacob Wankel, Christian Grande, Joe Trenzeluk, and Atarah Pinder) at Scholarship and Creativity Day, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, April 21, 2016.

Students in the Department of Psychology at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University presented research conducted during the 2015-16 academic year at Scholarship & Creativity Day on Thursday, April 21, 2016.

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