Looking the Part

Television Leads Less Informed Citizens to Vote Based on Candidates’ Appearance

Bibliographic Data

ID6231801
AuthorsGabriel S Lenz (0000-0001-7844-6027, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Chappell Lawson (0000-0002-8174-8728, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Year2011
Volume55
Issue3
Pages574-589
Publication date2011-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00511.x
OpenAlexW2147809861
LanguageEN
Citations received108
References cited65

As long as there has been democratic government, skeptics have worried that citizens would base their choices and their votes on superficial considerations. A series of recent studies seems to validate these fears, suggesting that candidates who merely look more capable or attractive perform better in elections. In this article, we examine the underlying process behind the appearance effect. Specifically, we test whether the effect of appearance is more pronounced among those who know little about politics but are exposed to visual images of candidates. To do so, we combine appearance-based assessments of U.S. Senate and gubernatorial candidates with individual-level survey data measuring vote intent, political knowledge, and television exposure. Confirming long-standing concerns about image and television, we find that appealing-looking politicians benefit disproportionately from television exposure, primarily among less knowledgeable individuals

Advertising · Business · Political science · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology · Social Psychology

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