Abstract
Correlational studies have found candidate traits to be an important determinant of vote preferences but cannot rule out reverse causality processes in explaining these findings. The present study demonstrates the independent impact of trait inferences on candidate evaluations using experimentally controlled candidate profiles of hypothetical U.S. congressmen. Using the scandal situation as a testing ground, this experiment examines whether task-relevant, competence traits actually have greater impact on political judgments than the more general, warmth-related trait qualities. Two types of scandals are considered (marital infidelity and tax evasion), both implying negative trustworthiness characteristics of the officeholder. Results demonstrate that trait inferences do have a causal impact on global evaluations. Consistent with past survey studies, competence qualities appear to be more important than warmth qualities but only for those with greater political information levels.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramowitz, Alan I. (1988). Explaining Senate election outcomes.American Political Science Review 82: 385–403.
Abramowitz, Alan I. (1991). Incumbency, campaign spending, and the decline of competition in U.S. House elections.Journal of Politics 53: 34–56.
Alexander, Deborah, and Krisi Andersen (1993). Gender as a factor in the attribution of leadership traits.Political Research Quarterly 46: 527–545.
Alford, John, Holly Teeters, Daniel S. Ward, and Rick K. Wilson (1994). Overdraft: The political cost of congressional malfeasance.Journal of Politics 56: 788–801.
Campbell, Angus, Gerald Gurin, and Warren E. Miller (1954).The Voter Decides. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.
Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse, Warren E. Miller, and Donald E. Stokes. (1960).The American Voter. New York: Wiley.
Carlston, D. E. (1980). The recall and use of traits and events in social inference processes.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 16: 303–328.
CBS New/New York Times Poll, January 17–21, 1988.
Conover, Pamela J., Donald D. Searing, and F. P. Zinni (1988). Socialization, Civic Virtue, and Civic Behavior. Paper prepared for the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.
Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Scott Keeter (1991). Stability and change in the U.S. public's knowledge of politics.Public Opinion Quarterly 55:583–612.
Fenno, Richard F. Jr. (1978).Home Style: House Members in Their Districts. New York: Harper Collins.
Fiske, Susan T., Donald R. Kinder, and W. M. Larter (1983). The novice and the expert: Knowledge-based strategies in political cognition.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 19: 381–400.
Fiske, Susan T., Richard R. Lau, and R. A. Smith (1990). On the varieties and utilities of political expertise.Social Cognition 8: 31–48.
Funk, Carolyn L. (forthcoming). Understanding trait inferences in candidate images. In Michael X. Delli Carpini, Leonie Huddy, and Robert Y. Shapiro (eds.),Research in Micropolitics. JAI.
Glass, David P. (1985). Evaluating presidential candidates: Who focuses on their personal attributes?Public Opinion Quarterly 49: 517–534.
Groseclose, Timothy, and Keith Krehbiel (1994). Golden parachutes, rubber checks, and strategic retirements from the 102d House.American Journal of Political Science 38: 75–99.
Hamill, Ruth, and Milton Lodge (1986). Cognitive consequences of political sophistication. In R. R. Lau and D. O. Sears (eds.),Political Cognition: The 19th Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Huddy, Leonie, and Nayda Terkildsen (1993a). The consequences of gender stereotypes for women candidates at different levels and types of office.Political Research Quarterly 46: 503–525.
Huddy, Leonie, and Nayda Terkildsen (1993b). Gender stereotypes and the perception of male and female candidates.American Journal of Political Science 37: 119–147.
Jacobson, Gary C., and Michael A. Dimock (1993). Checking Out: The Effects of Bank Overdrafts on the 1992 House Elections. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 15–17.
Judd, Charles M., and J. W. Downing (1990). Political expertise and development of attitude consistency.Social Cognition 8: 104–124.
Kinder, Donald R. (1983). Presidential Traits. Report to the NES Board of Overseers. Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan.
Kinder, Donald R. (1986). Presidential character revisited. In Richard R. Lau and David O. Sears (eds.),Political Cognition: The 19th Annual Carnegie Symposium on Cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kinder, Donald R., M. D. Peters, Robert P. Abelson, and Susan T. Fiske (1980). Presidential prototypes.Political Behavior 2: 315–337.
Kraemer, Helena Chmura, and Sue Thiemann (1987).How Many Subjects? Statistical Power Analysis in Research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Krosnick, Jon A. (1990). Lessons learned: A review and integration of our findings.Social Cognition 8: 154–158.
Krosnick, Jon A., and Donald R. Kinder (1990). Altering the foundations of support for the president through priming.American Political Science Review 84: 497–512.
Lang, Gladys E., and Kurt Lang (1983).The Battle for Public Opinion: The President, the Press, and the Polls During Watergate. New York: Columbia University Press.
Lodge, Milton, Kathleen M. McGraw, and Patrick Stroh (1989). An impression-driven model of candidate evalution.American Political Science Review 83: 399–419.
Markus, Gregory (1982). Political attitudes during an election year: A report on the 1980 NES panel study.American Political Science Review 76: 538–560.
McGraw, Kathleen M., and Neil Pinney (1990). The effects of general and domainspecific expertise on political memory and judgment.Social Cognition 8: 9–30.
Miller, Arthur H. (1990). Public judgments of Senate and House candidates.Legislative Studies Quarterly 25: 525–542.
Miller, Arthur H., and Warren E. Miller (1976). Ideology in the 1972 election: Myth or reality—A rejoinder.American Political Science Review 70: 832–849.
Miller, Arthur H., Martin P. Wattenberg, and O. Malanchuk (1986). Schematic assessments of presidential candidates.American Political Science Review 80: 521–540.
Mondak, Jeffrey J. (1994). Competence, Integrity, and the Electoral Success of Congressional Incumbents. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 14–16.
Newman, Leonard S., and James S. Uleman (1990).Choices and Echoes in Presidential Elections: Rational Man and Electoral Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Peters, John G., and Susan Welch (1978). Political corruption in America: A search for definitions and a theory, or if political corruption is in the mainstream of American politics why is it not in the mainstream of American politics research.American Political Science Review 72: 974–984.
Peters, John G., and Susan Welch (1980). The effects of charges of corruption on voting behavior in congressional elections.American Political Science Review 74: 697–708.
Pierce, Patrick A. (1994). Political sophistication and the use of candidate traits in candidate evaluation.Political Psychology 14: 21–35.
Popkin, Samuel L. 1991.The Reasoning Voter. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Rahn, Wendy M., John H. Aldrich, Eugene Borgida, and John L. Sullivan (1990). A social-cognitive model of candidate appraisal. In John A. Ferejohn and James H. Kuklinski (eds.),Information and Democratic Processes. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Rahn, Wendy M., John H. Aldrich, and Eugene Borgida (1994). Individual and contextual variations in political candidate appraisal.American Political Science Review 88: 193–200.
Rosenberg, Seymour, and Andrea Sedlak (1972). Structural representations of implicit personality theory. In L. Berkowitz (ed.),Advances in Social Psychology, vol. 6. New York: Academic Press.
Rubin, Zick (1973).Liking and Loving: An Invitation to Social Psychology. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston.
Rundquist, Barry, Gerald D. Strom, and John G. Peters (1977). Corrupt politicians and their electoral support: Some experimental observations.American Political Science Review 71: 954–963.
Sanbonmatsu, David M., Steven J. Sherman and David L. Hamilton (1987). Illusory correlation in the perception of individuals and groups.Social Cognition 5: 1–25.
Schudson, Michael (1992).Watergate in American Memory. New York: Basic Books.
Stein, Robert M. (1990). Economic voting for govenor and U.S. senator: The electoral consequences of federalism.Journal of Politics 52: 29–53.
Stoker, Laura (1993). Judging presidential character: The demise of Gary Hart.Political Behavior 15: 193–223.
Weisman, S. R. (1984). Can the magic prevail?New York Times Magazine, April 29, pp. 38–56.
Wilson, J. Q., and E. C. Banfield (1964). Public-regardingness as a value premise in voting behavior.American Political Science Review 58: 876–887.
Wilson, J. Q., and E. C. Banfield (1971). Political ethos revisited.American Political Science Review 65: 1048–1062.
Wyer, Robert S., Jr., Thomas K. Srull, and S. E. Gordon (1984). The effects of predicting a person's behavior on subsequent trait judgments.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 20: 29–46.
Wyer, Robert S., Jr., Thomas Lee Budesheim, Sharon Shavitt, Ellen D. Riggle, R. Jeffrey Melton, and James H. Kuklinski (1991). Image, issues, and ideology: The processing of information about political candidates.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61: 533–545.
Zaller, John (1990). Political awareness, elite opinion leadership, and the mass survey response.Social Cognition 8: 125–153.
Zaller, John R. (1992).The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Funk, C.L. The impact of scandal on candidate evaluations: An experimental test of the role of candidate traits. Polit Behav 18, 1–24 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01498658
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01498658