Candidate confidence and electoral appeal: An experimental study of the effect of nonverbal confidence on voter evaluations

Dumitrescu, Delia, Gidengil, Elisabeth and Stolle, Dietlind (2015) Candidate confidence and electoral appeal: An experimental study of the effect of nonverbal confidence on voter evaluations. Political Science Research and Methods, 3 (1). pp. 43-52. ISSN 2049-8470

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Abstract

The nonverbal display of confidence is strongly associated with leadership and power. However, its importance for the persuasiveness of campaign messages has not been explored. How important is showing confidence for a political candidate’s ratings? How does confidence condition the effect of the quality of a candidate’s arguments? This article addresses these questions using an innovative experimental approach that makes it possible to better isolate the impact of the candidate’s nonverbal confidence and the quality of his message. While both of these aspects influence voters’ perceptions of the candidate’s electability and qualifications, the nonverbal dimension matters more when it comes to electability. This research contributes to the study of nonverbal communication in elections by expanding the focus of inquiry beyond the effect of pure emotions (happiness or anger) and facial traits.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Cultural Politics, Communications & Media Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies
Related URLs:	http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstra...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	06 Jan 2017 00:03
Last Modified:	21 Jul 2023 09:44
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/61956
DOI:	10.1017/psrm.2014.16

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