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The effects of candidate appearance on information search and political behavior in political campaigns

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TitleInfo
Title
The effects of candidate appearance on information search and political behavior in political campaigns
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Ditonto
NamePart (type = given)
Tessa
NamePart (type = date)
1982-
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Tessa Ditonto
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
author
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Lau
NamePart (type = given)
Richard R
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Richard R Lau
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Advisory Committee
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chair
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Redlawsk
NamePart (type = given)
David P
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David P Redlawsk
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Sanbonmatsu
NamePart (type = given)
Kira
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Kira Sanbonmatsu
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Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Merolla
NamePart (type = given)
Jennifer
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Jennifer Merolla
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
outside member
Name (type = corporate)
NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
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NamePart
Graduate School - New Brunswick
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RoleTerm (authority = RULIB)
school
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Text
Genre (authority = marcgt)
theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated (qualifier = exact)
2013
DateOther (qualifier = exact); (type = degree)
2013-10
Place
PlaceTerm (type = code)
xx
Language
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO639-2b); (type = code)
eng
Abstract (type = abstract)
The 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.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Political Science
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Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD
Identifier
ETD_4890
PhysicalDescription
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electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
ix, 187 p. : ill.
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Tessa Ditonto
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Political candidates
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Interpersonal attraction
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Attribution (Social psychology)
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Political sociology
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore19991600001
Location
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NjNbRU
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T32805N2
Genre (authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights

RightsDeclaration (ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder (type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Ditonto
GivenName
Tessa
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (qualifier = exact); (point = start)
2013-06-24 15:48:28
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Name
Tessa Ditonto
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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Technical

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ETD
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windows xp
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