The effects of candidate appearance on information search and political behavior in political campaigns
Citation & Export
Hide
Simple citation
Ditonto, Tessa.
The effects of candidate appearance on information search and political behavior in political campaigns. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T32805N2Export
Description
TitleThe effects of candidate appearance on information search and political behavior in political campaigns
Date Created2013
Other Date2013-10 (degree)
Extentix, 187 p. : ill.
DescriptionThe goal of this project is to examine the role that various aspects of a political candidate’s physical appearance play in influencing voters’ information search patterns, candidate evaluations, and ultimate vote choice. In particular, it considers the effects of a candidate’s gender, race/ethnicity, and perceived competence on the amount of information accessed about a candidate, affect toward a candidate, personality trait ratings, and vote decisions. Using two separate computer-based experiments, both of which utilize the Dynamic Process Tracing Environment (DPTE), this dissertation seeks both to determine how an information processing perspective can enhance our knowledge of how candidate appearance influences these variables, and to provide a better understanding of how multiple appearance cues may influence voting behavior simultaneously. It looks first at the relationship between information search and race and gender-based prejudice and finds that the amount of information that subjects search for during a simulated presidential campaign is affected by both the race/gender of the candidates in the race, as well as by the levels of race and gender-based prejudice expressed by the subjects. Those subjects who are high in prejudice search for less information about female and minority candidates, which, in turn, leads to a lower likelihood of voting for those candidates. Second, it considers the simultaneous effects of race, gender, and a candidate’s perceived competence based on automatic trait inferences. I find that incompetent looking candidates are at an electoral disadvantage, but that race and gender also interact with this cue such that incompetent looking female candidates are especially disadvantaged. Finally, I find that an incompetent appearance cue can be overcome when the substantive information available about an incompetent candidate contradicts that cue by portraying him or her as politically competent. In sum, I find that appearance cues matter in a voter’s decision-making process, but that the other information available during a political campaign can, at times, serve to either mediate the relationship between appearance and voting behavior or to temper it outright.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby Tessa Ditonto
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
Statistical Profile