Psychology Faculty Publications

Document Type

Paper

Publication Date

9-2026

Disciplines

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

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a developmental causal analysis of the adult personality of U.S. vice president JD Vance, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Vance’s personality 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 findings of the personality assessment were previously reported in a separate paper. 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.

The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate whether Vance’s empirically established adult personality patterns accurately postdicted critical elements of his childhood experiential history from the perspective of Millon’s hypothesized causal analysis of the developmental precursors of adult personality patterns. Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, provided the source material for autobiographical recollections of Vance’s formative childhood experiences.

Evaluating Vance’s adult personality composite through the lens of his childhood experiential history revealed theoretical support for his Dominant/controlling and Contentious/resolute patterns, and less support for his Ambitious/confident and Outgoing/congenial patterns. Assuming the validity of Millon’s developmental hypotheses, it seems plausible that extraverted and self-confident aspects of Vance’s personality were shaped less by his childhood history than by emerging-adulthood learning or active impression management and self-presentation in the domain of politics.

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

Related reports 

The Personality Profile of U.S. Vice President JD Vance » https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/151/ 

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
JD Vance - Childhood Experiential History (Amelia Brower ERP).pptx (28487 kB)
PowerPoint presentation: JD Vance Developmental Causal Analysis
Narrative script for JD Vance developmental causal analysis (Amelia Brower ERP oral presentation).pdf (149 kB)
Narrative script: JD Vance Developmental Causal Analysis
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