Reformist and Fundamentalist: A Small-Scale Comparative Study of Personality and Mental Health

Increasing interest in the study of the relationship between personality and the choice of political ideology have emerged, and previous studies have found evidence of the impact of personality traits on political preferences of individuals. However, further research can be undertaken in this area in order to gain better understanding of the interactions of personal attributes and political orientations of individuals living in a society. The primary research question is as follows: What are the differences between individuals in the two main political movements of reformism (eslāh’talabī) and fundamentalism (bonyad’garāī) in Iran in terms of their personality and mental health? In the research hypothesis, it is postulated that variations in political ideologies of reformists and fundamentalists may be attributed to disparities in their personality traits. Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPP) exemplifies the reformist groups, whereas and the ‘Principlists’ (osol’garāyan) serves as a typical example of the fundamentalist political groups.The population of the study included political journalists, party and political activists, government officials, and members of student political associations in Isfahan and Tehran in the summer of 2017. The use of snowball sampling method resulted in the selection of 65 respondents which included 33 reformists and 32 fundamentalists. Two questionnaires consisting  of  60  items (answered on a five-point Likert scale) were used to collect information from these respondents. The first questionnaire was designed for the ‘Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness’ (NEO) Personality Inventory Test; and the second one was for the ‘Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21’ (DASS-21). Descriptive and inferential statistics were computed, with multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) utilized for data analysis.The results revealed significant differences between the reformists and fundamentalists on specific personality traits, notably in the subcategories of extroversion, openness to experience, and agreeableness. Moreover, the comparison of mental health indicators showed that these two groups have significant differences in the depression and stress subscales. The reformists scored higher in the variables of openness to experience, depression, and stress, whereas the fundamentalists scored higher in the extroversion and agreeableness scales. These findings are consistent with the results of similar studies. Furthermore, this study concludes that given the role of religion in Iran's politics, it is useful to examine the relationship between religion and the personality of political activists and ordinary citizens in future studies.