Displays of emotion and citizen support for Merkel and Gysi

Abstract

Emotional appeals have always been an important instrument in the mobilization of political support in modern societies. As found in several experimental studies from the United States, the emotions displayed by leading politicians in their televised public appearances have an impact on the political attitudes and behaviors of the public. Positive emotions such as joy or happiness, pride, and amusement elicit a more positive assessment of politicians, whereas showing negative emotions such as anger or outrage often diminishes the public's support. This transfer of emotions from sender to recipient has been described as "emotional contagion." However, under specific circumstances, emotions expressed by politicians can result in counter-empathic reactions among recipients. To examine the role of emotions between political leaders and the public in an institutional and cultural setting outside the United States, this article presents experimental findings on the impact of emotions expressed by two leading German politicians on the German public. The study used emotional displays by Chancellor Angela Merkel and former parliamentary leader of the Left Party, Gregor Gysi, observing how their assessments by the German public changed in response to these displays. Consistent with existing research, we discovered positive effects on the evaluation of both politicians when they displayed positive emotions. However, the impact of negative emotions is different for Merkel and Gysi and can be described as contagion in the former and counter-contagion in the latter case. Furthermore, we found that individual recognition of the expressed emotions modified the effect they had on the evaluation of some leadership characteristics.

Gender, Candidate Emotional Expression, and Voter Reactions During Televised Debates

“…But voters also apply varying standards to how women and men in public office look and sound (Bauer 2018, Bauer and Carpinella 2018, Carpinella and Bauer 2019) and may want women and men who express gender role congruent emotions (Fischbach et al 2015). In Germany, Masch and colleagues find voters react positively when leaders express happiness (Gabriel andMasch 2017, Masch 2020). Research also suggests that voters are particularly unlikely to accept masculine behavior from women.…”

Emotional response to U.K. political party leader facial displays of affiliation, reward, and ambiguity during Brexit

“…For instance, while leader's smiles signaling reassurance and affinity are more appropriate in egalitarian societies, there is a greater preference for anger and threatening behaviors in more authoritarian societies or those systems perceiving threat (Masters, Frey, and Bente 1991; Masters and Sullivan 1989; Warnecke, Masters, and Kempter 1992). However, with the exception of studies in Germany (Gabriel and Masch 2017; Nagel, Maurer, and Reinemann 2012) and France (Masters and Sullivan 1989) research regarding response to politician nonverbal behavior in nations other than the United States has been relatively sparse.…”

Appealing to Hearts and Minds

“…'Emotions influence attention, decisionmaking, attitudes, and action in the realm of politics' (Brader and Marcus, 2013: 165). Emotions play a significant role in shaping human behavior; they are one of the key components of politics (Gabriel and Masch, 2017), as are political ads (Moorman and Neijmans, 2012).…”

“…Despite the difference in types of scrutiny, research on emotions in politics and emotional appeals in political ads has revealed similar findings. Such studies maintain that communication that fosters a positive mood induces a more positive assessment of politicians, whereas communication that promotes a negative mood increases the level of negative judgement of candidates who are simultaneously rated in electoral settings (Gabriel and Masch, 2017;Weber, 2012). For example, the overview of Brader and Marcus (2013) of current approaches to the study of emotion and politics makes an important contribution to this discussion.…”