Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Next article
Original Article

Facial Appearance and Electoral Success of Male Italian Politicians

Are Trustworthy-Looking Candidates More Successful in Corrupt Regions?

Published Online:October 07, 2020https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000427

Abstract

Abstract. People rely on the facial appearance of political candidates when voting. Here, we examine whether the perceived competence, trustworthiness, and attractiveness of male Italian mayoral candidates (n = 150) predict their electoral success. Building on situational leadership theory, we also examine whether associations between apparent traits and electoral success are moderated by contextual factors. Specifically, we test whether trustworthy-looking politicians are more successful in Southern Italy where political corruption is a more salient issue. Across three preregistered studies (N = 470), we find that attractive-looking candidates were more successful. Perceived competence and trustworthiness were not consistently associated with electoral success. Moreover, we do not find evidence that regional variation in corruption moderates the success of trustworthy-looking politicians.

References

  • Antonakis, J., & Dalgas, O. (2009). Predicting elections: Child’s play!. Science, 323, 1183. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167748 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ballew, C. C., & Todorov, A. (2007). Predicting political elections from rapid and unreflective face judgments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104(46), 17948–17953. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705435104 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berggren, N., Jordahl, H., & Poutvaara, P. (2010). The looks of a winner: Beauty and electoral success. Journal of Public Economics, 94(1–2), 8–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.11.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Berggren, N., Jordahl, H., & Poutvaara, P. (2017). The right look: Conservative politicians look better and voters reward it. Journal of Public Economics, 146, 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.12.008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bigoni, M., Bortolotti, S., Casari, M., Gambetta, D., & Pancotto, F. (2016). Amoral familism, social capital, or trust? The behavioural foundations of the Italian North–South divide. Economic Journal, 126(594), 1318–1341. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12292 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brambilla, M., Rusconi, P., Sacchi, S., & Cherubini, P. (2011). Looking for honesty: The primary role of morality (vs. sociability and competence) in information gathering. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41(2), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.744 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carpinella, C. M., Hehman, E., Freeman, J. B., & Johnson, K. L. (2016). The gendered face of partisan politics: Consequences of facial sex typicality for vote choice. Political Communication, 33(1), 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2014.958260 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Castelli, L., Carraro, L., Ghitti, C., & Pastore, M. (2009). The effects of perceived competence and sociability on electoral outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(5), 1152–1155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.06.018 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chen, F. F., Jing, Y., & Lee, J. M. (2012). “I” value competence but “we” value social competence: The moderating role of voters’ individualistic and collectivistic orientation in political elections. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(6), 1350–1355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.07.006 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chen, F. F., Jing, Y., & Lee, J. M. (2014). The looks of a leader: Competent and trustworthy, but not dominant. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 51, 27–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.10.008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chen, F. F., Jing, Y., Lee, J. M., & Bai, L. (2016). Culture matters: The looks of a leader are not all the same. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(6), 570–578. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616644962 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chiao, J. Y., Bowman, N. E., & Gill, H. (2008). The political gender gap: Gender bias in facial inferences that predict voting behavior. PLoS One, 3(10), Article e3666 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003666 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Choi, H., & Varian, H. (2012). Predicting the present with Google Trends. Economic Record, 88, 2–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2012.00809.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cox, G. W., & Katz, J. N. (1996). Why did the incumbency advantage in U.S. House elections grow? American Journal of Political Science, 40(2), 478–497. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111633 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cunningham, M. R., Roberts, A. R., Barbee, A. P., & Druen, P. B. (1995). “Their ideas of beauty are, on the whole, the same as ours”: Consistency and variability in the cross-cultural perception of female physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(2), 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.2.261 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Del Monte, A., & Papagni, E. (2007). The determinants of corruption in Italy: Regional panel data analysis. European Journal of Political Economy, 23(2), 379–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2006.03.004 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Epitropaki, O., & Martin, R. (2004). Implicit leadership theories in applied settings: Factor structure, generalizability, and stability over time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(2), 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.2.293 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ferguson, H. S., Owen, A., Hahn, A. C., Torrance, J., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2019). Context-specific effects of facial dominance and trustworthiness on hypothetical leadership decisions. PLoS One, 14(7), Article e0214261 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214261 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fiorino, N., Galli, E., & Petrarca, I. (2012). Corruption and growth: Evidence from Italian regions. European Journal of Government and Economics, 1(2), 126–144. https://doi.org/10.17979/ejge.2012.1.2.4281 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goodwin, G. P., Piazza, J., & Rozin, P. (2014). Moral character predominates in person perception and evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(1), 148–168. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034726 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Green, P., & Macleod, C. J. (2016). SIMR: an R package for power analysis of generalized linear mixed models by simulation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 7, 493–498. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.12504 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hehman, E., Carpinella, C. M., Johnson, K. L., Leitner, J. B., & Freeman, J. B. (2014). Early processing of gendered facial cues predicts the electoral success of female politicians. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5(7), 815–824. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614534701 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hehman, E., Leitner, J. B., Deegan, M. P., & Gaertner, S. L. (2015). Picking teams: When dominant facial structure is preferred. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 59, 61–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2015.03.007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hehman, E., Xie, S. Y., Ofosu, E. K., & Nespoli, G. A. (2018). Assessing the point at which averages are stable: A tool illustrated in the context of person perception. https://psyarxiv.com/2n6jq/ First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hollander, E. P., & Julian, J. W. (1969). Contemporary trends in the analysis of leadership processes. Psychological Bulletin, 71(5), 387–397. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0027347 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jäckle, S., Metz, T., Wenzelburger, G., & König, P. D. (2020). A catwalk to congress? Appearance-based effects in the elections to the US House of Representatives 2016. American Politics Research, 48(4), 427–441. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X19875710 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jain, A. K. (2001). Corruption: A review. Journal of Economic Surveys, 15(1), 71–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6419.00133 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • King, A., & Leigh, A. (2009). Beautiful politicians. Kyklos, 62(4), 579–593. https://doi.org/10.1016/0014-2921(83)90040-5 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Klapper, A., Dotsch, R., van Rooij, I., & Wigboldus, D. H. J. (2016). Do we spontaneously form stable trustworthiness impressions from facial appearance? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(5), 655–664. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000062 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kuklinski, J. H., & Quirk, P. J. (2000). Reconsidering the rational public: Cognition, heuristics, and mass opinion. In A. LupiaM. D. McCubbinsS. L. PoppkinEds., Elements of reason: Cognition, choice, and the bounds of rationality (pp. 153–182). Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Langlois, J. H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A. J., Larson, A., Hauam, M., Smoot, M., Bigler, R., Buss, D., Cohen, D., Feingold, A., Holden, G., Kalick, D., Miller, P., & Swann, W. B. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126(3), 390–423. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.126.3.390 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Laustsen, L., & Petersen, M. B. (2015). Does a competent leader make a good friend? Conflict, ideology and the psychologies of friendship and followership. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(4), 286–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.01.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lenz, G. S., & Lawson, C. (2011). Looking the part: Television leads less informed citizens to vote based on candidates’ appearance. American Journal of Political Science, 55(3), 574–589. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00511.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lin, C., Adolphs, R., & Alvarez, R. M. (2018). Inferring whether officials are corruptible from looking at their faces. Psychological Science, 29(11), 1807–1823. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618788882 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Linhartova, V., & Pultarova, M. (2015). Cross-regional comparison of corruption. 4th International Conference on Economics, Political and Law Science, 118–124. http://www.wseas.us/e-library/conferences/2015/Rome/EPLS/EPLS-14.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Little, A. C. (2014). Facial appearance and leader choice in different contexts: Evidence for task contingent selection based on implicit and learned face-behaviour/face-ability associations. Leadership Quarterly, 25(5), 865–874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.04.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Little, A. C., Burriss, R. P., Jones, B. C., & Roberts, S. C. (2007). Facial appearance affects voting decisions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(1), 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2006.09.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Little, A. C., Roberts, S. C., Jones, B. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2012). The perception of attractiveness and trustworthiness in male faces affects hypothetical voting decisions differently in wartime and peacetime scenarios. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65(10), 2018–2032. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2012.677048 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mattes, K., & Milazzo, C. (2014). Pretty faces, marginal races: Predicting election outcomes using trait assessments of British parliamentary candidates. Electoral Studies, 34, 177–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2013.11.004 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Miller, A. H., Wattenberg, M. P., & Malanchuk, O. (1986). Schematic assessments of presidential candidates. The American Political Science Review, 80(2), 521–540. https://doi.org/10.2307/1958272 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mosca, L. (2014). The Five Star Movement: Exception or vanguard in Europe? The International Spectator, 49(1), 36–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2013.875821 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Olivola, C. Y., Eubanks, D. L., & Lovelace, J. B. (2014). The many (distinctive) faces of leadership: Inferring leadership domain from facial appearance. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(5), 817–834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.06.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Olivola, C. Y., & Todorov, A. (2010a). Elected in 100 milliseconds: Appearance-based trait inferences and voting. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 34(2), 83–110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-009-0082-1 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Olivola, C. Y., & Todorov, A. (2010b). Fooled by first impressions? Reexamining the diagnostic value of appearance-based inferences. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(2), 315–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.002 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Penton-Voak, I. S., Pound, N., Little, A. C., & Perrett, D. I. (2006). Personality judgments from natural and composite facial images: More evidence for a “kernel of truth” in social perception. Social Cognition, 24(5), 607–640. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2006.24.5.607 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Peters, J. G., & Welch, S. (1980). The effects of charges of corruption on voting behavior in congressional elections. The American Political Science Review, 74(3), 697–708. https://doi.org/10.2307/1958151 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Quattrone, G. A., & Tversky, A. (1988). Contrasting rational and psychological analyses of political choice. American Political Science Review, 82(3), 719–736. https://doi.org/10.2307/1962487 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • R Core Team. (2020). R: A language and environment for statistical computing, R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.r-project.org/ First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Re, D. E., & Rule, N. (2017). Distinctive facial cues predict leadership rank and selection. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(9), 1311–1322. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217712989 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rosar, U., Klein, M., & Beckers, T. (2008). The frog pond beauty contest: Physical attractiveness and electoral success of the constituency candidates at the North Rhine-Westphalia state election of 2005. European Journal of Political Research, 47(1), 64–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2007.00720.x First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Rule, N. O., Ambady, N., Adams, R. B., Ozone, H., Nakashami, S., Yoshikawa, S., & Watabe, M. (2010). Polling the face: Prediction and consensus across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017673 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Spisak, B. R., Dekker, P. H., Krüger, M., & Van Vugt, M. (2012). Warriors and peacekeepers: Testing a biosocial implicit leadership hypothesis of intergroup relations using masculine and feminine faces. PLoS One, 7(1), Article e30399 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030399 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sussman, A. B., Petkova, K., & Todorov, A. (2013). Competence ratings in US predict presidential election outcomes in Bulgaria. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(4), 771–775. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.02.003 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Todorov, A., Mandisodza, A. N., Goren, A., & Hall, C. C. (2005). Inferences of competence from faces predict election outcomes. Science, 308(5728), 1623–1626. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1110589 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Todorov, A., & Porter, J. M. (2014). Misleading first impressions: Different for different facial images of the same person. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1404–1417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614532474 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Welch, S., & Hibbing, J. R. (1997). The effects of charges of corruption on voting behavior in congressional elections. The Journal of Politics, 59(1), 226–239. https://doi.org/10.2307/2998224 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Willis, J., & Todorov, A. (2006). First impressions: Making up your mind after a 100-ms exposure to a face. Psychological Science, 17(7), 592–598. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01750.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Yukl, G. (1989). Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research. Journal of Management, 15(2), 251–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920638901500207 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar