Polls and Elections Public Perceptions Regarding the Authenticity of the 2012 Presidential Candidates

Abstract

Public perceptions of candidates' personality traits play important roles in shaping vote choice. Previous accounts point to authenticity as one key trait, but little research has systematically investigated perceptions regarding candidate authenticity. This study uses data from a telephone survey to show that political predispositions (trust, external efficacy, interest, partisanship, and ideology), and television news use (broadcast and cable) predicted perceptions of candidate authenticity in the context of the 2012 presidential campaign. A question-wording experiment also showed that perceptions regarding the authenticity of political messages varied across source (Obama or Romney), substance (working for "the middle class" or "job creators"), and the receiver's partisanship.Today, it seems, politics is all about seeming authentic.-Paul Krugman (2007)

Do voters get it right? A test of the ascription-actuality trait theory of leadership with political elites

“…Our findings therefore tally with previous assertions that politicians high on Agreeableness are more likely to secure votes, because voters are attracted to candidates who appear competent, straightforward, altruistic, trustworthy and less likely to succumb to hubris (Little, Roberts, Jones & Buriss, 2007). Such qualities are likely to become progressively more pertinent, in an age where, authenticity, direct communication and avoidance of political spin is increasingly valued by members of the public (Brewer, Hoffman, Harrington, Jones & Lambe, 2014;Drake & Higgins, 2012).…”

Not Simply in the Eye of the Beholder: Authenticity as a Product of Candidate Preference and Unfettered Speech

“…The importance of candidate authenticity was a prominent theme during the 2016 U.S. presidential election (e.g., Friedersdorf, ; Gersen, ; Sargent, ) and has received increasing attention over the last 15 years in political research (Brewer, Hoffman, Harrington, Jones & Lambe, ; Louden & McCauliff, ). Parry‐Giles () argues that anxiety‐producing events from the Vietnam War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the search for relatable, authentic political candidates.…”

“…Motivated reasoning (Kunda, ; Lodge & Taber, ; Redlawsk, ) suggests that voters will use a variety of mechanisms to weight or distort new information to maintain their preexisting evaluations of candidates. Using survey studies preceding the 2012 presidential contest, Brewer et al () provided evidence of political motivated reasoning by demonstrating that voters hold theoretically predictable views of candidates' authenticity based on their own attitudes, partisan identities, and the news they consume. There remain, however, important questions regarding (1) the theoretical underpinnings, conceptualization, and assessment of perceived authenticity and (2) how voters interpret the communications of candidates when gauging the authenticity of a candidate.…”

When Does a Presidential Candidate Seem Presidential and Trustworthy? Campaign Messages Through the Lens of Language Expectancy Theory

“…A dimension featured in most such studies is trustworthiness (Ohanian 1990). Trustworthiness is a perception that can influence a presidential candidate's electability (Brewer, Hoffman, Harrington, Jones, and Lambe 2014). The modern era's progenitor of language intensity mentioned in our literature review, Bowers (who often used politicians as examples in his research), exhorted persuasion researchers to measure a source's trustworthiness (Bowers and Phillips 1967).…”