The Michigan Model is still the most important model for explaining voting behavior in many countries. This paper will look at the link between personality (measured by the Big Five), party identification, the short-term components of the Michigan Model and voting behavior in German federal elections. It will thus analyze the psychological base of partisan attachments, candidate, and issue orientations as well as the direct and indirect impact (via all three attitudes) of personality traits on voting in a multi-party system. The analysis accordingly will focus on a causal relationship already suggested by the “funnel of causality” in “The American Voter”. It will also address the short-comings of present research in this area which has more or less ignored the complex causal interplay between personality, political attitudes, and voting behavior.
