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Candidate characteristics are often treated as a lump sum that can be pulled apart but ultimately sum together in models of candidate evaluation. The present study asks, first, whether distinctions among traits are useful for models of candidate evaluation. Second, it considers whether the role of substantive trait dimensions in overall evaluation is uniform across candidates or varies by candidate & electoral context. Latent variable structural equation models are used to test the impact of trait dimensions on thermometer ratings of presidential candidates from 1984 to 1996. Results support the separation of traits into substantive content dimensions. Trait dimensions vary in their effect on candidate evaluations depending on the candidate & election year. This is consistent with a model of attitude response based on changing considerations. These results suggest that as candidates & campaigns call attention to different underlying trait dimensions, the bases for overall evaluation vary accordingly. 2 Tables, 1 Appendix, 70 References. Adapted from the source document.

Recently, much attention has focused on declining levels of civic engagement as a symptom of a wide range of social ills. Some claim that Americans' tendency to endorse individualistic beliefs to the exclusion of a collective or societal interest value accounts for declining levels of civic engagement. This study investigated whether a value commitment to benefit the collective, called societal interest, helps to explain civic engagement. Data from the 1990–1992 National Election Studies panel study were used to evaluate whether a societal interest value helps to explain participation in community affairs and efforts to solve collective problems. The findings support the hypothesis that societal interest influences the likelihood of engaging in behavior to benefit the collective. These findings support the view that human behavior is influenced by multiple motives (including a desire to benefit the collective). Expressions of commitment to societal interest are more than mere lip service to noble ideals; they have real consequences for behavior.

The persistence hypothesis holds that core political predispositions tend to be highly stable through the life span. Here, this is tested using data from a longitudinal study by Lewis M. Terman & Melita H. Oden (1959), in which the party identification & ideology of 1,272 US respondents were measured on four occasions, 1940-1977, from roughly age 30 to retirement age. These partisan attitudes were highly stable over this long period, yielding continuity coefficients of about .80 between each measurement (separated by at least l0 years), & .65 for the full 37-year span. Examination of the trajectories of individual attitudes reveals that the most common pattern was constancy across time. A substantial minority changed in small but consistent ways, but changes from one partisan side to the other were not very common. Surprisingly, early-life racial attitudes had a resurgent effect on partisan attitudes in the 1970s. There was evidence of increasing attitude crystallization through the life span, infusing core predispositions with increasing psychological strength over time. Limitations of the study include the high intelligence of thc respondents and the "steady state" of the party system through most of this period. 8 Tables, 1 Figure, 73 References. Adapted from the source document.