| Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences |
|
|
|
       |
|
|
  |
|
Insights into voter behavior: a hot topic for the recent FABBS Science Café held at the National Press Club This event was sponsored by SAGE Publications.
Introduction The event began with opening remarks by Barbara Wanchisen, PhD, the Executive Director of FABBS who emphasized the mission of FABBS and thanked the speakers for making time in their busy schedules to participate in the café. She then turned the podium to Alison Mudditt, Executive Vice President, Higher Education Group at Sage Publications. Mudditt commented on the importance of supporting the work of the behavioral and brain sciences and that the public should utilize behavioral data as they make decisions in their everyday lives – e.g. in the upcoming elections.
Borgida emphasized four major points: 1) partisanship still matters and appears to have a neural basis, 2) leadership style matters in time of war, 3) values trump self-interest in selecting a candidate, and 4) swift, automatic associations about race and gender influence one’s vote. Providing data to back up these statements, Borgida presented the state of the science of voter behavior. He discussed the best-selling book by Drew Westen, The Political Brain, and how it discusses the first neuro-imaging study on partisanship. Borgida also covered three basic leadership styles: relationship-oriented, charismatic, and task- oriented, and that these are more attractive to voters based on the state of the nation at a given point in time. He noted that, for example, in times of peace, a relationship-oriented figure will predictably do well in an election whereas in times of war, this candidate will likely fare poorly. Borgida also discussed another best-selling book, one by Malcolm Gladwell called Blink and this notion of rapid-fire judgments set the stage for the next speaker.
Todorov took the podium and focused on two major points: 1) people are efficient in making judgments about traits (for example, trustworthiness) from looking at faces, and 2) rapid, unreflective judgments based solely on facial appearance predict election outcomes. He emphasized that the detection of competence is a key component for voters and, based on a series of experiments, we know that people make deductions about others very quickly (note again the book Blink). In a series of experiments, Todorov very cleverly “morphed” faces of famous politicians in order to retain their relevant features while removing the recognizability of the politicians. He could then demonstrate that rapid detection of competence is the major attribute that voters seek. In fact, Todorov conducted a quick experiment on the audience to make his point. While his data were based on gubernatorial and senatorial races, the results are provocative and relevant to presidential elections as well. Q & A The question and answer period was lively and informative and the dialogue continued enthusiastically during the reception that followed.
Photographs To view pictures from this event, please visit our photo gallery. Please use the following links to download copies of various items related to this event.
Please use the links below to download copies of the references used by the speakers at this event. Borgida References If you prefer to receive a DVD copy of this café, which is of a better quality than the Flash videos on this site, please send in a tax-deductible contribution to FABBS by either check or Google Checkout for $30 or more, and we will mail you a copy. Please indicate that you would like to receive the October 2007 Science Cafe on your donation. FABBS donors who have contributed $100 or more in either 2006 or 2007 are eligible for a complimentary copy of this DVD by contacting us.
The content of presentations made at FABBS' events does not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the FABBS board nor its donors. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fascination with the 2008 presidential election increases each day, and the press coverage seems omnipresent: television, radio, internet, and newspapers all have opinions to report and experts to interview each day. Because of this interest, the recent FABBS science café could not have been better planned! FABBS hosted a café entitled Elections: How Voters Really Think and Feel at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on the evening of October 24th. Eugene Borgida, PhD (University of Minnesota) and Alexander Todorov, PhD (Princeton University) were our distinguished speakers. This event, as with all science cafes, was aimed at educating the general public about the importance and relevance of the behavioral and brain sciences. The rapt attention of the audience during the presentations, plus their lively participation in the Q&A made for a successful and exciting evening.
