The Psychology of voting for a Presidential Candidate

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As American voters went to the poll this year , they undoubtedly also reflected on what will become of the Presidential election of 2008 , and how they will choose between the candidates . Many Americans might believe that voters are driven by Republican or Democratic loyalty , the state of the war on Iraq , the state of the economy , or their religious affiliation . How does the Iraq war impact the behavior of voters

? How does the economy help Americans choose their next President ? In fact the behavior of voters , while perhaps acutely aware of the disaster in Iraq , and the failing American economy , may boil down to something much simpler . Psychologists have been evaluating the behavior of voters over time , and believe that voters make their choices based on human nature (Dye , 2006

This is not to say that the Iraq war , religion , and the state of the economy do not affect

the way that Americans vote . But their vote may boil down to who they like better , and who

they trust more . Trust , in this sense , is not necessarily reflected in the behavior of candidates

but rather that gut feeling , the same one that lets you know that you 're in love . Americans may

be even more compelled to vote on the basis of hate or anger with a particular candidate than

loyalty to the other . If you really want to make more people go to the polls on election day , put

someone on the ballot a lot of people hate . That 's because we are far more likely to turn out

because we can 't stand someone than because we think one candidate is a really swell person

In fact , if Americans do not like either candidate , or like them about the same , fewer voters turn

out to vote , because the end result is the same (Dye , 2006

Given the millions of dollars that are spend on every political campaign , certainly there

must be some evidence that it has an impact . The research also suggests that a lot of campaign

managers are right about one thing : Negative advertising really works provided it 's done with

enough taste to keep the mudslinger from getting a bit tarnished by his or her own mud . It takes

a touch of class to sling mud effectively (Lee , 2006 ) The effect that human nature has on

voter behavior suggests that Americans choose a President in much the same manner they

choose a spouse . As an old political pollster once told me , issues don 't decide elections

Personalities decide who wins and who loses . Never mind the future of social security . The

winning candidate needs to know how to smile convincingly . We 've got to like the person more

than agree with how he or she stands on the issues (Dye , 2006

And as that old saying goes , you only have one chance to make...