The Effects of Person-Centered Communication Styles on Political Candidate Evaluation

“I feel your pain”: The effect of displaying empathy on political candidate evaluation

Journal of Social and Political Psychology ◽

10.5964/jspp.v8i2.1292 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 767-787

Author(s):

Randall A. Renstrom ◽

Victor C. Ottati

Keyword(s):

The Political ◽

Candidate Evaluation ◽

Political Candidates ◽

Female Candidates ◽

Political Candidate ◽

Communication Effect ◽

The Impact

Two experiments demonstrate that highly empathetic messages conveyed by a political candidate produce more favorable attitudes and increase the likelihood individuals will vote for the political candidate. Study 1 revealed this Empathetic Communication Effect is stronger among female political candidates than male. Compared to male candidates, female candidates are evaluated more positively when they engage in empathetic language but are more harshly penalized when they fail to display empathy. An analogous pattern emerged for candidate party in Study 2. Namely, the Empathetic Communication Effect is stronger among Democratic political candidates than Republican political candidates. Results also explore the impact of empathetic rhetoric on perceptions of candidates’ socio-emotionality and instrumentality.

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Captatio Benevolentiae: Potential Risks and Benefits of Flattering the Audience in a Public Political Speech

Journal of Language and Social Psychology ◽

10.1177/0261927x18800132 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 37 (6) ◽

pp. 706-720

Author(s):

Nicoletta Cavazza ◽

Margherita Guidetti

Keyword(s):

Interpersonal Communication ◽

Impression Management ◽

Candidate Evaluation ◽

Social Category ◽

Public Speech ◽

Risks And Benefits ◽

Political Candidate ◽

The Social ◽

Potential Risks ◽

Practical Implications

Given that flattery is a form of impression management and a persuasive tool in interpersonal communication, two experiments investigated the effect of a (fictitious) political candidate praising the audience during a meeting. The flattery was addressed to the social category to which participants belong (direct flattery condition) or to another social category (observed flattery condition). The flattering message (vs. control condition) employed in the context of a public speech induced a more positive candidate evaluation on both the members of the flattered audience and the observers. The effect was not mediated by degree of message scrutiny, nor by suspicion of source ulterior motives, and it was not moderated by the level of identification with the audience. This suggests that the compliment to the audience leads the members of the flattered category to reciprocate liking and the observers to transfer the source’s attitude recursively (TAR effect). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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