BEAUTY OR THE BEAST - THE EFFECTS OF APPEARANCE, PERSONALITY, AND ISSUE INFORMATION ON EVALUATIONS OF POLITICAL CANDIDATES

Two studies investigated the effects of image and issue information on evaluations of political candidates. The extent to which voters base their evaluations on stereotypic image information (i.e., candidates' physical attractiveness) and nonstereotypic image information (i.e., i ndividuating personality descriptions of the candidates) was examined. Also of interest were the factors that lead to image-based, as oppose d to issue-based, evaluations of the candidates. Results demonstrated that (a) physical appearance influenced evaluations even when individu ating personality information was provided, (b) subjects' evaluations were less influenced by their agreement with the candidates' issue Pos itions when image information was presented than when it was not, and (c) subjects' evaluations were less influenced by issue agreement when a candidate's image was evaluatively mixed than when it was evaluativ ely consistent.