When Choosing a President, Issues are Not Enough: Study Reveals Surprising Factors that Form Voter Attitudes

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 26, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- As the Texas and Ohio primaries near, the 2008 presidential election promises to be one of the most interesting elections in U.S. history. With Democratic candidates neck and neck in the polls and McCain a virtual shoe-in for the Republican nomination, voters are already thinking ahead to November 4th and asking themselves for whom they might vote. But is it the candidates' positions on issues what drives voters' decisions at the polls or are there other variables at work?

An article to be published in the new Journal of Leadership Studies (Wiley Periodicals, Inc.) on February 28th discusses results of researching and analyzing data from the seven most recent U.S. presidential elections comparing Democratic and Republican Party candidates who were successful in securing votes. The analysis reveals what tipped the scales with voters and how perceptions of leader intelligence, feelings of pride and hope, as well as feelings of fear and anger, were found to impact the decision process, rather than the issues that candidates present.

Researchers M. David Albritton, Sharon L. Oswald and Joseph S. Anderson used data from the National Election Studies (NES) division of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan to expand upon previous work on voter attitudes, perceptions of leaders, and voter support. They found perceived intelligence, inspirational qualities, and charisma to be key factors in the formation of voter opinion. Instead of the varying positions on issues, voter's perceptions of these key traits are found to be predictors of whether or not that voter will consider a leader to be of high quality.

How a candidate's charisma as well as how fear plays into a voter's evaluation was also examined. Intuitively perhaps, fear played a negative role toward a candidate. Individuals who generated stronger feelings of voter fear were considered "lower quality leaders." However, fear also helped shape positive behaviors toward a rival candidate. Surprisingly, charisma, traditionally considered an asset, was often viewed negatively when framed in the context of manipulating others toward personal gain.

Using the tripartite model of attitude structure as a conceptual basis, the paper investigates voter attitudes towards presidential candidates, including:

     -- Beliefs about leadership characteristics
     -- Ability for voters to understand and predict behavior
     -- Cognitive evaluation of political leadership
     -- Feeling and emotional responses to candidates

The study positioned the leadership process as a relationship between voters and candidates. Between the cognitive, affective, and overall intentions to behave in a certain manner, the process was complex and the outcomes were surprising. With the poll numbers as close as they are, don't be surprised to find this study in every candidate's research notes out on the campaign trail.

    To access the article, please visit
www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/jls.

SOURCE Journal of Leadership Studies

http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/jls
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