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Looking the Part: Television Leads Less Informed Citizens to Vote Based on Candidates’ Appearance

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  • Gabriel S. Lenz
  • Chappell Lawson

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel S. Lenz & Chappell Lawson, 2011. "Looking the Part: Television Leads Less Informed Citizens to Vote Based on Candidates’ Appearance," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 574-589, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:55:y:2011:i:3:p:574-589
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00511.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Potrafke, Niklas & Rösch, Marcus & Ursprung, Heinrich, 2020. "Election systems, the “beauty premium” in politics, and the beauty of dissent," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Neal Hockley, 2014. "Cost–Benefit Analysis: A Decision-Support Tool or a Venue for Contesting Ecosystem Knowledge?," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(2), pages 283-300, April.
    3. Berggren, Niclas & Jordahl, Henrik & Poutvaara, Panu, 2017. "The right look: Conservative politicians look better and voters reward it," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 79-86.
    4. Tessa Buchanan, 2019. "Brexit behaviourally: lessons learned from the 2016 referendum," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 18(1), pages 13-31, June.
    5. Ling, Leng & Luo, Danglun & SHE, Guoman, 2019. "Judging a book by its Cover: The influence of physical attractiveness on the promotion of regional leaders," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 1-14.
    6. Folke, Olle & Rickne, Johanna & Smith, Daniel M., 2018. "Gender and Dynastic Political Recruitment," Working Paper Series 1233, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    7. Niclas Berggren & Henrik Jordahl & Panu Poutvaara, 2010. "The Right Look: Conservative Politicians Look Better and their Voters Reward it," CESifo Working Paper Series 3310, CESifo.
    8. Harry Garretsen & Janka I. Stoker & Rob Alessie & Joris Lammers, 2014. "Simply a Matter of Luck & Looks? Predicting Elections when Both the World Economy and the Psychology of Faces Count," CESifo Working Paper Series 4857, CESifo.
    9. Haan, Peter & Peichl, Andreas & Schrenker, Annekatrin & Weizsäcker, Georg & Winter, Joachim, 2022. "Expectation management of policy leaders: Evidence from COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    10. Lilian Gazzoli Zanotelli & Emerson Wagner Mainardes & Rogério Dias Correia, 2020. "Voter’s Perceptions on Candidate Choice for Director of Public Educational Institutions," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 179-201, March.
    11. Ho Fai Chan & Ahmed Skali & David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler & Stephen Whyte, 2021. "Masculinity cues, perceptions of politician attributes, and political behavior," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 148-171, March.
    12. Agustin Casas, 2020. "Ideological extremism and primaries," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 69(3), pages 829-860, April.
    13. Ling, Leng & Luo, Danglun & Li, Xiaoxia & Pan, Xintong, 2022. "Looking good by doing good: CEO attractiveness and corporate philanthropy11We thank the co-editor (Suqin Ge) and the referees for many valuable comments and suggestions. We thank Huimin Li and Jing Sh," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. Shtudiner, Zeev & Klein, Galit, 2020. "Gender, attractiveness, and judgment of impropriety: The case of accountants," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    15. Mattarozzi, Katia & Colonnello, Valentina & De Gioia, Francesco & Todorov, Alexander, 2017. "I care, even after the first impression: Facial appearance-based evaluations in healthcare context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 68-72.
    16. ONO Yoshikuni & ASANO Masahiko, 2020. "Why Beauty Matters: Candidates' Facial Appearance and Electoral Success," Discussion papers 20072, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Panu Poutvaara, 2017. "Beauty in Politics," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 18(01), pages 37-43, April.
    18. repec:gig:joupla:v:6:y:2014:i:2:p:39-72 is not listed on IDEAS

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