I Vote for Integrity?! A Conjoint Experiment on Voters’ Assessment of MPs’ Competence

The objective of this study is to understand how Portuguese voters react when asked to choose which of seven attributes (gender, ideological orientation, political experience, problem-solving capacity, capacity to compromise, political integrity, and empathy) of a MP matter the most when voting. Implementing a conjoint experiment on an original and representative sample of the national population (n=1,101) enabled the investigation of the likelihood of voting for a hypothetical candidate who presented a random combination of the seven attributes measured. This analysis indicates that the most important attributes in determining the propensity to vote for a candidate are ideological orientation (24.2%), followed by political integrity (20.3%), and the capacity to compromise (16.6%). These findings pave the way for a more coordinated analysis that includes the role of integrity in public life as a means of curbing corruption.