Document Type

Report

Publication Date

9-2020

Disciplines

American Politics | Leadership Studies | Other Psychology | Personality and Social Contexts

Abstract

This preliminary report presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. senator Kamala Harris, Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Harris 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.

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. Harris’s primary personality pattern was found to be Dominant/asserting (a measure of aggressiveness), complemented by secondary Ambitious/confident and Outgoing/congenial patterns — measures of narcissism and extraversion, respectively — and subsidiary Accommodating/cooperative features.

In summary, Harris’s personality composite can be characterized as high-dominance charismatic — charismatic by virtue of the elevated Ambitious–Outgoing amalgam.

Dominant individuals enjoy the power to direct others and to evoke obedience and respect; they are tough and unsentimental and often make effective leaders. Ambitious individuals are bold, competitive, and self-assured; they easily assume leadership roles, expect others to recognize their special qualities, and sometimes act as though entitled. Outgoing individuals are dramatic attention-getters who thrive on being the center of social events, go out of their way to be popular with others, and have confidence in their social abilities.

Harris’s major personality strengths in a political role are her confident assertiveness and personal charisma (rooted in dominant, ambitious, and outgoing qualities). Her major personality-based shortcomings (rooted in an outgoing tendency in concert with low conscientiousness) are likely to be a diminished capacity for sustained focus, insufficient attention to detail, and occasional lapses in emotional restraint.

Note: An updated (Nov. 2024), more accurate, personality profile is available at https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/146/

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 » http://personality-politics.org/kamala-harris

Updates » http://personality-politics.org/kamala-harris-2024

Related reports

Video summary » https://youtu.be/ptRff1uYUAo (9:52)

The Political Personality of 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden » http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/130/

The Personality Profile and Leadership Style of U.S. President Joe Biden » https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/132/

The Personality Profile and Leadership Style of U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris » https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/146/

Additional Files
Kamala Harris poster (2020).jpg (1469 kB)
Poster: The Personality Profile of 2020 Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris Personality and Leadership Profile.pptx (2935 kB)
PowerPoint presentation: Kamala Harris Personality and Leadership Profile
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