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Evaluations of Presidential Campaign Speakers as a Function of Similarity and Expectancy Disconfirmation
Author(s) -
McPeek Robert W.,
Gross Alan E.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1975.tb00673.x
Subject(s) - psychology , similarity (geometry) , presidential system , expectancy theory , social psychology , preference , presidential election , political science , statistics , politics , law , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics)
During the week prior to the November 1972 U.S. Presidential election, 249 college students heard a young, “freaky”‐appearing or an old, “straight”‐appearing speaker—corresponding to a stereotyped McGovern or Nilon advocate—deliver a speech for either the expected or unexpected candidate. Espectancy had little effect on speaker ratings, but speakers were rated more positively by subjects who were similar to them in age. appearance, and (especially) candidate preference. Similarity, particularly in regard to preferred presidential candidate, affected the ratings of the speaker made by pro‐McGovern subjects to a greater degree than the ratings made by pro‐Nixon subjects. These data suggested that college‐aged Nixon supporters may have experienced an identification conflict.