“Candidates running in right-leaning states or facing conservative voters seem to benefit from possessing facial features that make them look more stereotypically Republican than their rivals,” said the study authors in the authoritative publication Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Just what a stereotypical Republican looks like the authors didn’t suggest. Instead, they left it to survey participants to decide, though one of the pictures offered was of former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, known for his conservative style–and sweater vests.
“Our results show that people seem to agree that some candidates look more stereotypically Republican than their rivals, even some Democrats,” co-author Christopher Olivola told Secrets.
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