Document Type

Report

Publication Date

11-5-2024

Disciplines

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

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. vice president Kamala Harris, Democratic presidential nominee in the 2024 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-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. Harris’s primary personality patterns were found to be Outgoing/congenial and Dominant/asserting, supplemented by secondary Reticent/circumspect and Ambitious/confident patterns and a subsidiary Accommodating/cooperative tendency.

Outgoing individuals are cordial and strive to be popular with others. Dominant individuals enjoy the power to direct others and to evoke compliance and respect. Reticent individuals are circumspect, risk averse personalities sensitive to criticism. Ambitious individuals are socially poised and project self-confidence. Accommodating personalities are inclined to act in a cooperative, conciliatory manner.

In summary, Harris’s personality composite can be characterized as a guardedly dominant extravert — guarded by virtue of a substantial degree of circumspection infused in her basic Outgoing–Dominant personality composite.

Harris’s major personality strength as a chief executive is her confident, outgoing assertiveness. Her major personality-based limitation (rooted in an outgoing tendency operating in concert with low conscientiousness) is likely to be insufficient attention to detail, a diminished capacity for sustained focus, and occasional lapses in emotional restraint. She could potentially be hampered by apprehension or unease in high-stakes public settings, rooted in a secondary reticent pattern.

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/kamala-harris-2024

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

Related reports

The Political Personality of 2020 Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris » https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/131/

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. President Donald J. Trump in Office » http://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/psychology_pubs/129/

Additional Files
2024-08-01_Maldonado+Joseph_Kamala-Harris.jpg (1234 kB)
Poster: The Personality Profile of Vice President Kamala Harris in Office
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