Psychology Faculty Publications

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

12-2025

Disciplines

American Politics | Leadership Studies | Mental Disorders | Other Political Science | Other Psychiatry and Psychology | Other Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an indirect personality assessment of U.S. vice president JD Vance, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Vance were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR. 

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles manuals. Vance’s primary personality patterns were found to be Dominant/controlling and Ambitious/confident, supplemented by a secondary Contentious/resolute pattern and subsidiary Outgoing/congenial and, equivocally, Accommodating/cooperative patterns.

Dominant individuals enjoy the power to direct others and to evoke respect and compliance. Ambitious individuals are socially poised and project self-confidence. Contentious personalities are cynical, headstrong, and resolute. Outgoing individuals are cordial and socially extraverted. Accommodating individuals are even-tempered  and motivated to reconcile differences.

Based on his overall personality configuration, Vance may be informally described as a “fiercely ambitious chameleon” — fierce by virtue of his dominance and contentiousness, ambitious by dint of his self-confidence, and “chameleon-like” because of a combination of extraverted and adaptively narcissistic traits. More formally, Vance may be characterized as a dominant nonconformist: tough, strong-willed, and outspoken (i.e., dominant); self-confident, persuasive, and competitive (i.e., ambitious); resolute, with an oppositional streak (i.e., contentious); and extraverted, engaging, and socially skilled (i.e., outgoing).

A dominant, nonconformist personality predisposition, in which dominance is melded with individualistic, self-confident political ambition, suggests a leader with a distinctive power motive and an influential orientation to public policy.

Comments

The research was conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics (USPP), a collaborative faculty–student research program in the psychology of politics at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict in Collegeville and St. Joseph, Minnesota, directed by Aubrey Immelman, PhD, associate professor of psychology, who specializes in the psychological assessment of presidential candidates and world leaders. 

More information and updates: http://personality-politics.org/ 

The research was funded by the Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholars at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. 

Related reports 

A Leadership Trait Analysis of U.S. Vice President JD Vance » https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/152 

The Personality Profile and Leadership Style of U.S. President Donald J. Trump in Office » http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/129/ 

Additional Files
ISPP 2026 presentation - JD Vance (Aubrey Immelman).pptx (5077 kB)
PowerPoint presentation: Personality Profile and Leadership Trait Analysis of U.S. Vice President JD Vance
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