Negativity in the Evaluation of Political Candidates

2005 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill G. Klein ◽  
Rohini Ahluwalia
Keyword(s):  
National Election ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Negativity Effect ◽  
Election Studies

Prior research has demonstrated a clear negativity effect (greater weighting of candidate weaknesses compared with strengths) in the evaluation of U.S. presidential candidates in each of the past six elections analyzed. The authors adopt a motivational view and question the robustness of this finding. They reanalyze past National Election Studies data along with new data and conclude that the negativity effect is not universal across voters; it is a robust effect only for voters who dislike the candidate. They argue that previous findings are due to aggregation of data across voters who vary in their motivations.

Emotions and Affective Polarization: How Enthusiasm and Anxiety About Presidential Candidates Affect Interparty Attitudes

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-316
Author(s):  
Bryan McLaughlin ◽  
Derrick Holland ◽  
Bailey A. Thompson ◽  
Abby Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
National Election ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
Election Studies ◽  
Unique Ability

In the context of an increasingly divided populace, this article considered how the emotions (enthusiasm and anxiety) partisans feel toward U.S. presidential candidates may heighten or diminish affective polarization. In Study 1 (American National Election Studies [ANES] 2008–2009 panel data), we found that enthusiasm for the in-group candidate and anxiety about the out-group candidate were related to higher levels of affective polarization, whereas enthusiasm for the out-group candidate was related to lower levels of affective polarization. In Study 2 (2016 panel data), we found that in-group enthusiasm was related to higher levels of affective polarization and out-group enthusiasm was related to lower levels of affective polarization, but neither in-group nor out-group anxiety was significantly related to affective polarization. These findings highlight that enthusiasm about out-group candidates may have a unique ability to disrupt affective polarization and that it is important to consider the source of an emotion response, not just the type of emotion.

Schematic Assessments of Presidential Candidates

1986 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 521-540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur H. Miller ◽  
Martin P. Wattenberg ◽  
Oksana Malanchuk
Keyword(s):  
Time Series Data ◽  
Past Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Cognitive Representation ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Candidate Personality ◽  
Election Studies

This article applies theories of social cognition in an investigation of the dimensions of the assessments of candidates employed by voters in the United States. An empirical description of the public's cognitive representations of presidential candidates, derived from responses to open-ended questions in the American National Election Studies from 1952 to 1984, reveals that perceptions of candidates are generally focused on “personality” characteristics rather than on issue concerns or partisan group connections. Contrary to the implications of past research, higher education is found to be correlated with a greater likelihood of using personality categories rather than with making issue statements. While previous models have interpreted voting on the basis of candidate personality as indicative of superficial and idiosyncratic assessments, the data examined here indicate that they predominately reflect performance-relevant criteria such as competence, integrity, and reliability. In addition, both panel and aggregate time series data suggest that the categories that voters have used in the past influence how they will perceive future candidates, implying the application of schematic judgments. The reinterpretation presented here argues that these judgments reflect a rich cognitive representation of the candidates from which instrumental inferences are made.

The Ideological Foundations of Affective Polarization in the U.S. Electorate

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 621-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven W. Webster ◽  
Alan I. Abramowitz
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
National Election ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Close Connection ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
The Past ◽  
Opposing Party ◽  
Election Studies ◽  
The U.S

Democratic and Republican partisans dislike the opposing party and its leaders far more than in the past. However, recent studies have argued that the rise of affective polarization in the electorate does not reflect growing policy or ideological differences between supporters of the two parties. According to this view, though Democratic and Republican elites are sharply divided along ideological lines, differences between the policy preferences of rank-and-file partisans remain modest. In this article, we show that there is a close connection between ideological and affective polarization. We present evidence from American National Election Studies surveys that opinions on social welfare issues have become increasingly consistent and divided along party lines and that social welfare ideology is now strongly related to feelings about the opposing party and its leaders. In addition, we present results from a survey experiment showing that ideological distance strongly influences feelings toward opposing party candidates and the party as a whole.

scholarly journals A Comparison of Incumbency Across Institutions: A Look at the House, Senate, and Governorships

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 287-303
Author(s):  
Brad Lockerbie
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
National Election ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Incumbency Advantage ◽  
Gubernatorial Elections ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Expectations ◽  
Election Studies

Using the American National Election Studies of 1990, 1994, and 1998, we can see that there is an incumbency advantage for governors, senators, and members of the House of Representatives. There is, however, some variability to the magnitude of the incumbency advantage. Moreover, it appears to follow a rather sensible pattern. It appears to be strongest for members of the House and weakest for Governors. When looking at House elections, we can see that incumbency is more powerful than is party identification. When we look at senatorial and gubernatorial elections, the items appear to be more evenly matched. When we look at evaluations of the national parties performance and expectations of performance, the picture becomes much more muddy. Gubernatorial candidates consistently avoid being held accountable for their national parties past economic performance. Candidates for the House and Senate are largely able to avoid responsibility for the past economic performance of their national parties. Economic expectations, however, are modestly more related to vote choice.

The National Election Studies Revisited

1990 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
National Election ◽  
Election Studies

How Political Candidates' Use of Facebook Relates to the Election Outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsin-Chen Lin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Vote Share ◽  
Political Marketing ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Municipal Election ◽  
Online Fans ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the relationship between political candidates' use of Facebook and their election outcomes (vote share and election success). The use of social media in political marketing campaigns has grown dramatically over the past few years. It is also expected to become even more critical to future political campaigns, as it creates two-way communication and engagement that stimulates and fosters candidates' relationships with their supporters. Online Facebook data were acquired for all 84 candidates running in a municipal election in Taiwan. Results suggest that a candidate's Facebook presence, the type of account they use, the authentication of the account, and the number of online fans they have are related to their election outcomes.

What Are the Effects of Educational Mobility on Political Interest and Participation in the Indian Electorate?

Asian Survey ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-439
Author(s):  
Reetika Syal
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Demographic Factors ◽  
National Election ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
Educational Mobility ◽  
Access To Resources ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Economic Constraints ◽  
Election Studies

Abstract This article finds, through statistical analysis of the National Election Studies (2004) data, that an increase in intergenerational education levels can positively influence an individual's political interest and political participation. Participatory trends in India are influenced by demographic factors such as caste, class, gender, income, and locality. However, this study finds that education can have a liberating effect from these various socio-economic constraints. It can provide greater access to resources and information, thus helping to increase active political participation.

The Structure of Emotional Response: 1984 Presidential Candidates

1988 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
George E. Marcus
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Response ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Negative Emotionality ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Presidential Candidates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Emotional Appraisal ◽  
Psychological Models ◽  
Dimensional Models ◽  
Feeling Thermometer

Over the past two decades psychological models of affect have changed from valence (one-dimensional) models to multiple-dimensional models. The most recent models, circumplex models, are two-dimensional. Feeling thermometer measures, which derive their theoretical logic from earlier (valence) models of emotional appraisal, are shown to be confounded. Underlying the variation obtained using feeling thermometer measures are two dimensions of emotional response, mastery (positive emotionality) and threat (negative emotionality). Analysis of the 1984 NES survey suggests that positive emotional response is twice as influential as negative emotional response in predicting presidential candidate vote disposition to the presidential candidates. Reliance on emotional response is shown to be uniformly influential across various strata of the electorate.Policy considerations have little direct influence on vote disposition, though policy considerations are indirectly related to vote disposition through the influence of issues on the degree of feelings of threat evoked by the candidates.

scholarly journals FAIR national election studies: How well are we doing?

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 651-668
Author(s):  
Christina Eder ◽  
Alexander Jedinger
Keyword(s):  
National Election ◽  
Election Studies
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