Is Hillary dishonest and Donald narcissistic? A HEXACO analysis of the presidential candidates' public personas

The 2016 American election campaign has seen an exceptionally negative view of both candidates (Clinton/Trump), and what seems like passionate support for one side or the other. Approval and honesty ratings of < 50% throughout the campaign suggest that neither candidate is viewed positively. In a campaign that is increasingly focused on temperament and personality, we examined the public personalities of the two candidates. Ten HEXACO personality experts completed HEXACO-PI-R observer reports for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump based on public personas. Scores were transformed into percentiles based on normed values for HEXACO observer reports. Clinton was rated as low on H, E, and Altruism, normal on X and A, and high on C and O. Trump, on the other hand, was rated as exceptionally low on H, A, and Altruism, very low on E, low on C and O, and high on X. Facet level scores clarify the specific traits lowering or raising the candidates' scores. Previous research has shown that narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism (the Dark Triad) were associated with lower Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Clinton scores low on the first two of these, while Trump scores very low to exceptionally low on all four traits.