Appeal of Political Candidates Is in the Eye of the Beholder

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What traits or characteristics do we look for in political candidates? Historically, honesty and trustworthiness, or what might be globally termed integrity, were deemed crucial to likeability and electability (Hardy, 2014). Voters also once favored candidates who they saw as compassionate and caring (Renstrom & Ottati, 2020), traits demonstrated via the use of empathetic and respectful language (“I feel your pain”). And, at one time, having experience germane to the office being sought was a must. In light of recent election campaigns (George Santos, whose level of confabulation has precipitated members of his own party to call for his resignation), some of these traditional characteristics seem to be on the wane. Why might this be so?

In a recent study, Aichholzer and Willmann (2021) put forward the ‘‘voter-politician congruence” principle. It holds that voters seek representation by candidates who exhibit personality characteristics congruent with their own. Voters tend to like and resonate with perceived similarities and this permits identification with a candidate. Nai et al. (2021) take this argument even further: “voters are more likely to support candidates with personalities that ‘match’ their own.” For example, while the public at large tends to dislike explicitly narcissistic, Machiavellian politicians, rating them substantially lower in likeability, voters who themselves score higher on “dark triad” personality traits (narcissism, psychopathy, “ends justify the means” Machiavellianism) tend to like “dark triad” candidates (Nai et al., 2021).

Personality goes a long way, and the likeability of a candidate is in the eye of the beholder. If you harbor hostilely sexist attitudes or are xenophobic, pulling the lever for a misogynistic candidate or one who fearmongers about “foreigners” isn’t hard to do. If you make, or merely retweet or forward, false claims on social media, you’re fine with voting for someone who does the same.

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Perhaps it sounds old-fashioned, but candidates who demonstrate trustworthiness, compassion, and relevant experience can still hold appeal. It’s okay to prefer candidates who demonstrate empathy, compassion, and intellectual curiosity, and who do not promote conspiracy theories. Two questions: Can civil society, and a representative democratic republic, thrive when a slew of Dark Triad candidates attain office? What’s the “new normal” on truth-telling and adherence to facts, research, and science for our elected representatives, and what are the ongoing ramifications of this new normal? Further research on the phenomenon of candidate appeal would be welcome.