Attitudes toward Presidential Candidates and Political Parties: Initial Optimism, Inertial First Impressions, and a Focus on Flaws

In: American journal of political science: AJPS, Band 45, Heft 4, S. 930-950

Abstract

Most models of how citizens combine information about political candidates into attitudes toward them presume that symmetric linear additive processes are at work. We propose a model (called the ANM) in which the impact of favorable & unfavorable beliefs on attitudes is asymmetric & nonlinear. Cross-sectional national survey data (from 1972 to 1996) show that this model describes attitudes toward presidential candidates & political parties better than a symmetric linear model (SLM) among respondents high & low in political involvement. Longitudinal survey data (collected between 1980 & 1996) show that attitudes are derived from favorable & unfavorable beliefs in ways consistent with the ANM. And the ANM revealed that voter turnout is enhanced by a stronger preference for a citizen's preferred candidate if at least one candidate is disliked, whereas the SLM failed to detect this effect. These findings have important implications for understanding the impact of election campaigns on citizens' preferences & actions & for understanding the ingredients of vote choices. 4 Tables, 1 Appendix, 75 References. Adapted from the source document.