Which personality characteristic is likely to predict political attitudes 20 years later?

Childhood personality characteristics are a strong predictor of political attitudes as individuals grow and mature. Research has demonstrated that the ways in which children interact with their environment, their propensity for empathy, and how they respond to social situations tend to shape their fundamental worldview and values. These early personality traits often develop into more defined political attitudes later in life, reflecting an individual's underlying beliefs about authority, community, and social responsibility.

For instance, a child who displays high levels of openness to experience may grow into an adult with liberal political views, while a child who demonstrates conformity and a preference for tradition could lean towards conservative attitudes. This link between early personality and later political stance emphasizes the stability of certain traits over time, suggesting that childhood experiences and dispositions can have a long-lasting impact on one's civic and political orientations.

In contrast, while characteristics like agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism can influence various aspects of a person’s life, they do not specifically account for the longer-term development of political beliefs in the same direct way that childhood personality traits do.