The Theory of Candidate Appraisal (Poliical Science)

This research involves a model of candidate evaluation. The important considerations, individual difference and contextual variables, and cognitive processes of the model are specified. The basic components of the model are 'institution free'; i.e., the model is a general one that transcends any particular electoral context. A strategy will be developed for applying the model to the presidential primary context using data from the American National Election Studies of 1980, 1984, and 1988, and Thomas Patterson's panel study of the 1976 election. These data are available through the ICPSR. The new application of the model will cover multi-candidate contexts, and thus will considerably advance our understanding of vote choice processes across different electoral arenas. Interactive activities include: teaching a graduate course on political applications of social and cognitive psychology; serving as guest director of an interdisciplinary colloquium on political psychology; engaging in collaborative research with several members of the department; and presenting these results in a regular departmental lecture series.