Candidate Authenticity: Measures and Consequences

• In Event: Primaries and Candidates

Abstract

The question of how 'authentic' a candidate is has become a talking point in election coverage. Yet very little is known about the role that perceptions of authenticity play in voters' evaluation of candidates, and the subsequent influence this may have on vote choice. While recent work suggests that voters do perceive candidates’ authenticness and that perceiving a candidate as authentic has a positive effect on evaluations of the candidate and the candidate’s vote, it is unclear how this authenticity trait behaves in relation to other established candidate traits such as competence and integrity. In this paper, drawing on survey data from Spain and Belgium, we compare authenticity to these other candidate traits, and examine whether authenticity is a separate trait that voters consider when evaluating candidates or casting a vote.

Authors

• Sofia Breitenstein, Universitat Autònoma

• Michael S. Lewis-Beck, University of Iowa

• John Kenny, University of Southampton

• Dieter Stiers, KU Leuven