The limits of the attractiveness premium in elections

Wigginton, Michael; Stockemer, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2020.102274

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Indeed, attractive politicians are perceived to be better and more proficient representatives, they can conquer more attention in the mainstream media as their decent appearance offers them an election gain. While a study by Jaeger, Evans and Van Beest (2021) reveals that attractive-looking candidates are more victorious in elections, to the contrary, a study by Wigginton and Stockemer (2021) found that physical attraction does not contribute in influencing the vote share of a candidate. As such the perception is that good looking candidates, are capable of being more successful in raising funds as well as getting more confirmations, which leads to their triumphing in the polls.…”

Section: Towards a Conceptual Perspective Of Electionsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Candidate’s physical attractiveness as a consequence in an election

Mwesigwa

Obici

2022

IJPPA

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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to deconstruct election results within the framework of candidate’s physical attractiveness. There is a mounting fear that modern-day political institutions are not presenting candidates with the social aptitude that they need to become successful in election processes. This deficiency has placed a growing burden on political parties to boost the victory of their candidates by making sure that the process of selecting candidates transforms into a rewarding time of political victory. In view of the countless contestations and proof of the dearth of social abilities in political parties, the emphasis of this article is on how political parties in Uganda can identify appealing candidates for the modern-day voter. Methods: By means of a desk review technique, definitions are given as well as an earlier theory as a basis for a projected model of enhancing candidate victory. Findings: The findings reveal that candidate’s physical attractiveness contributes positively towards the election outcome given that candidates that are physically less attractive are likely to score lower in an election. Unique contribution of theory, practice and policy: The study suggests that to neglect the power of a candidate’s physical attractiveness in an election is comparable to surrendering election victory to the opponent. For effective application, political party leaderships should include the elements of physical attractiveness in their strategic plans when choosing candidates for the next election cycle.

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Section: Towards a Conceptual Perspective Of Electionsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Candidate’s physical attractiveness as a consequence in an election

Mwesigwa

Obici

2022

IJPPA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…All in all, we believe that this novel data set relying on raters representative at the country level has clear advantages over other designs that rely on convenience samples, which may be the norm in physical appearance research (e.g., Mattes et al., 2010; Rosar et al., 2008; Wigginton & Stockemer, 2021). Furthermore, although the relationship between physical attractiveness and voting has already been studied in Finland (e.g., Berggren et al., 2010, 2017), we are not aware of any other study that exploited a representative sample of raters in the context of real (not mock) elections.…”

Section: Data and Measurement Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical appearance and elections: An inequality perspective

Bahamonde,

Sarpila

2023

Political Psychology

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A consensus seems to exist around physically attractive candidates winning elections more often. Unfortunately, we have limited understanding of how voters assess candidates with socioeconomically (dis)advantageous physical appearances. To bridge this gap, we studied the electoral consequences of candidates looking upper class, middle class, or working class. Using official electoral data for the 2017 Finnish municipal elections and a novel data set based on a representative sample of the Finnish population (N = 7,920), we found that Finnish citizens systematically vote for candidates who look like they have (and do have) upper‐class occupations. Furthermore, the data strongly suggest that a systematic electoral penalty exists, particularly for female candidates who look like they have (and do have) working‐class occupations.

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“…In our design there was no time limit for evaluating each picture. 12 All in all, we believe that this novel dataset relying on raters representative at the country level has clear advantages over other designs that rely on convenience samples, which may be seen as the norm in research on physical appearance (see, for instance, Rosar et al, 2008;Mattes et al, 2010;Wigginton & Stockemer, 2021). While the relationship between physical appearance and turnout has already been studied in Finland (e.g., Berggren et al, 2010Berggren et al, , 2017, the authors are not aware of any other study that exploited a representative sample of raters in the context of real (not mock) elections.…”

Section: Figure 1: Distribution Of Physical Appearance Indexes Broken...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical Appearance and Elections: An Inequality Perspective

Bahamonde¹,

Sarpila²

2022

Preprint

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There seems to be a consensus that physically attractive candidates win elections more often. Unfortunately, very little is known about how voters evaluate candidates with socioeconomically (dis)advantageous “looks.” To bridge this gap, we study the electoral consequences of looking upper-class, middle-class, or working-class for candidates. Using official electoral data for the 2017 Finnish municipal elections and a novel dataset based on a representative sample of the Finnish population (N=7,920), we find that Finnish citizens systematically vote for candidates that look like they have upper-class occupations. Furthermore, the data strongly suggest that there exists a systematic electoral penalty, particularly for female candidates that look like they have working-class occupations.

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The limits of the attractiveness premium in elections

Cited by 4 publications

References 33 publications

Candidate’s physical attractiveness as a consequence in an election

Candidate’s physical attractiveness as a consequence in an election

Physical appearance and elections: An inequality perspective

Physical Appearance and Elections: An Inequality Perspective

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