Personality Factor Influence in Foreign Policy Decision Making (the Five-Factor Model of Personality Prism)

This article studies the personality factor influence in foreign policy decision making. The role of personality in power has for a long time been a matter of research interest of many psychologists, political scientists, and experts in Foreign Policy Analysis. Still, there is no universal model of personality, though elaborating it has been ongoing since 1930s. Among multiple versions of tools, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) promoted by American psychologists R. McCrae and P. Costa, Jr. currently seems to be the most promising. According to the FFM, personality can be described within the framework of five broad dimensions, such as Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Neuroticism. Each dimension is quite abstract and embraces a number of certain personality traits in hierarchical subordination – from basic biological traits to more complicated behavioral facets, so that the complex comprehension of personality structure is possible. Interpretation of the prevailing personality dimensions and their intercorrelations helps to explain the behavior of personality in power during foreign policy decision making and understand why a certain decision has been made.The personality dimensions under the FFM directly or indirectly correspond with personality characteristics and variables basic in other current personality taxonomies. So, the key suggestion of this article is that the Five-Factor Model as a reliable tool can be used in further research of personality factor influence in foreign policy decision making.