Character Matters: The Effects of Candidate Trait-Issue Combinations

Abstract

This project focuses on political candidates’ image and issue information, informed by the fields of communication, political science, and psychology. Recognizing the field’s heavy use of cross-sectional data, I conducted an experiment to test the effects of manipulated trait-issue combinations on overall candidate evaluation. Stimuli were presented in the form of political campaign tweets to maximize external validity. Results indicate that pairing a trait from one party and an issue from the other party may be more effective than simply engaging in trait or issue ownership. They also find that appeals to qualification-based traits may require evidence to be effective, while appeals to personality-based traits may be enough on their own. By utilizing a novel approach to test effects of character and issue information, this study illuminated limitations of this approach as well as several directions forward for future research.