Abstract
Two experiments demonstrate that highly empathetic messages conveyed by a political candidate produce more favorable attitudes and increase the likelihood individuals will vote for the political candidate. Study 1 revealed this Empathetic Communication Effect is stronger among female political candidates than male. Compared to male candidates, female candidates are evaluated more positively when they engage in empathetic language but are more harshly penalized when they fail to display empathy. An analogous pattern emerged for candidate party in Study 2. Namely, the Empathetic Communication Effect is stronger among Democratic political candidates than Republican political candidates. Results also explore the impact of empathetic rhetoric on perceptions of candidates’ socio-emotionality and instrumentality.
Highlights
Two experiments demonstrate that highly empathetic messages conveyed by a political candidate produce more favorable attitudes and increase the likelihood individuals will vote for the political candidate
By experimentally manipulating a candidate’s rhetoric, the present studies offer a novel approach to examining the impact of empathy on candidate evaluation, allowing us to investigate the connections between how a candidate communicates, what traits the candidate is inferred to possess, and the perceptions of that candidate
We found that empathetic responses from a candidate significantly influence candidate evaluation, suggesting empathetic communication influences impressions within a political context much like it influences interpersonal impressions in non-political contexts (Block-Lerner et al, 2007; Burleson & Samter, 1985; Samter et al, 1987; Sened et al, 2017)
Summary
Two experiments demonstrate that highly empathetic messages conveyed by a political candidate produce more favorable attitudes and increase the likelihood individuals will vote for the political candidate. Study 1 revealed this Empathetic Communication Effect is stronger among female political candidates than male. Obama stepped into the role of “healer-in-chief,” tasked with honoring the victims and comforting their families and the nation It was a role Obama previously assumed after shootings in Tuscon, AZ, and Aurora, CO, and one he would occupy over a dozen times during his presidency in response to gun violence, providing emotional understanding and empathy to a country in grief. While social psychological research has revealed the importance of empathy in everyday interpersonal interactions (see Davis, 1996), less has been done investigating political candidates who display empathy to voters (for exceptions, see Funk, 1996; Hoyt et al, 2009). This manipulation is more reflective of the real world where candidates must verbally express, communicate, or display empathy in their speeches and interactions with others, and voters must infer that the candidates possess empathy from those behaviors
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