In three intriguing experiments into what shapes voter perceptions in the 2004 presidential election between Kerry and Bush, researchers took photos of the candidates, as well as photos of the study participants, and subtly “morphed” the candidates to look a little more like the participants.
They made the effect subtle enough so that you wouldn’t be able to detect something had been done to the photo. They then asked which candidate the participant would vote for. The results?
Those who looked at the real photos said they would vote for Bush over Kerry by 46 to 44 percent, predicting the same two-point spread that marked Bush’s victory in the actual election.
When the other groups examined the morphed photos, the gap grew markedly.
Those who had their photos combined with Bush gave the Republican a 13-point victory, while those blended with Kerry gave the Democrat a 7-point advantage.
Now keep in mind, this was a randomized group, so nothing between the different groups was markedly different in terms of political preferences. The only thing that changed was a photo that looked more like the participant!
I’m not sure how much this really plays out in the real world, since few of us look like any given presidential candidate. But this research is not surprising, given previous research that found that friends and family are more likely to find similar faces more attractive.
It reasonably follows that if we find a candidate’s face similar to ours (or our friends’ or family’s faces), we might find them more attractive and hence be more likely to vote for them.
Which would be a shame, because it also suggests that voters may be as easily swayed by physical looks as they are by the important issues. And while physical looks may arguably be a component of what makes a good leader, it certainly should not be the deciding factor.
Read the full news article: We Vote For People Who Look Like Us
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
One Comment to
“Are We Really That Shallow?”
The racial issue is the elephant in the living room of America. It can move in many strange ways. I remember a time when I was a bartender at a local taproom. On the television, a black Englishman was talking. The African-American young man who was stocking the bar was astounded. “He sounds just like you!”
England was a little ahead of the States in terms of emancipation. There’s a lovely little pergoda in London commemorating the not-soon-enough date.
I’d been sent to an all-girls, mostly white, religious boarding school in England, after we moved to Belgium. So I couldn’t have been more than twelve when I asked my mother what she would think if I married a black man.
Decades later, I have had lovers from many different backgrounds. Maybe because I’m a visual artist, I see beauty in places that some may not. I love contrasts of skin, different bone structures and features, as well as character lines.
But what I love the most, is the different cultural experiences and histories that these men have brought into my life. From a Vietnam Vet to a skateboard punk to a semi-pro cyclist to………oh, I’ll not bore you further.
To meet people different from ourselves is a learning experience. We lose our fear, by realizing that we have so much in common. We gain knowledge, by understanding that our world view is not universal. We grow, because we are part of a richer tapestry of the human experience.
To do less, is to sell ourselves and our fellow human beings short.
Join the Conversation! Post a Comment:
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 23 Oct 2008
