Personality and Politics

Online Information and Consent Form

Version 1 (08/02/2018)

Welcome to the “Personality and Politics” survey!

Thank you for visiting this survey page. This survey has been approved by the Ethics Committee at the School of Psychology, University of Southampton, UK (Ref. 31774).

Before deciding whether to participate, please read the following information. You will need to indicate that you have understood this information before you can continue. You must also be aged over 18 years of age to participate. By checking the box at the bottom of this page and clicking ‘Continue’, you are consenting to participate in this survey.

Investigators

Eleanor Lindsey and Tierney Lock (undergraduate project students) and Dr. Claire Hart (researcher), School of Psychology, University of Southampton, UK.

About the Study

The aim of this study is to investigate whether and how different personality dimensions effect our political orientation and behaviours.

We are requesting your participation in an online survey, which will take about 30 minutes to complete, and will ask questions about yourself, your personality, your political orientation and behaviours.

You should complete the study when you are alone at your computer and your responses cannot be overseen. Please take your time to respond to the questions thoughtfully and openly. Remember that there are no right or wrong answers – so feel free to provide completely honest responses.

Risks and Benefits

There are no significant risks involved in this study beyond those you would encounter in everyday life. You may find that some of the questions are quite personal, but you may leave any questions blank that you would prefer not to answer. We do recommend that you complete the survey in private so that you feel able to be open and honest.

We have tried to ensure that the questions in this study do not cause any distress. However, it is not uncommon to experience some anxieties or concerns when completing questionnaires. If participating in this survey raises any issues for you, we recommend that you contact www.allaboutcounseling.com or www.samaritans.org.

You may benefit from participating because at the end you will learn about our specific research aims, as well as what scientists currently know about these topics. You will also be told where to go for more information on this area of psychology. In addition, you will contribute to psychological science and our understanding of how people go about their everyday lives. Finally, as a thank you for taking part in this study, you can choose to be entered into a prize-draw that will give you an opportunity to win an Amazon Gift Voucher worth £50 (or equivalent).

Anonymity

Your email address will only be used to contact you for the specific purpose of the prize draw. It will not be shared with any third parties, and will be stored in a separate location to your questionnaire responses. Any results will only be published in aggregated form, i.e., it is not possible to identify any one person’s responses to the questionnaires.

Contact

If you have any questions or concerns about the study, you may contact Eleanor Lindsey (esl1g15@soton.ac.uk) or Tierney Lock (tl10g15@soton.ac.uk )

Participation in this study is fully voluntary and you have the right to withdraw at any time with no penalty by simply closing the web page. Data may be made available on the Open Science Framework, naturally this will be all anonymous.

In consenting, I understand that I am not waiving any legal claims, rights, or remedies. I also understand that data collected as part of this research project will be kept confidential and that published results will maintain that confidentiality. I finally understand that if I have any questions about my rights as a participant in this research, or if I feel that I have been placed at risk, I may contact the chair of the Ethics Committee, School of Psychology, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK; fshs-rso@soton.ac.uk; telephone +44 (0)23 80 593 856.

I certify that I am 18 years old or above. I have read the above consent form and I give consent to participate in the above described research.