Automatic evaluation of faces predict mayor election outcomes in Brazil

Da Silva, Sergio and De Novais, Joao Felipe (2017): Automatic evaluation of faces predict mayor election outcomes in Brazil. Published in: Open Access Library Journal , Vol. 4, No. 1 (2017): pp. 1-7.

Abstract

Elections can be decided on the basis of automatic evaluations of a candidate’s face that take less than one second. These inferences are specific to competence and they could predict better than chance 68.8 percent of the U.S. Senate race results in 2004. Such a finding suggests fast, unreflective trait inferences can contribute to voting choices. We replicated this finding for the 2012 and 2016 municipal elections that took place in the southern Brazil state of Santa Catarina. Mayors could have been elected partially by automatic perceptions of competence.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Voting behavior, Automatic face evaluation, Election outcomes, Nonverbal behavior, Field experiment
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D0 - General > D03 - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

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