ABSTRACT
In the final round of the 1992 election, voters were asked to evaluate, predict, and choose among three men: the enigmatic incumbent, a Democratic challenger with a contested “character” and contested record as governor of Arkansas, and a super-rich businessman with no prior political experience and ambiguous stands on most issues. This chapter describes a method of assessing and predicting the future governing styles of these three candidates through psychological content analysis of motive imagery in their speeches. Because of limited access, conventional techniques for assessing personality cannot be applied to political candidates, but one resource that we do have in abundance is words: Candidates talk, and what they say is written down. The chapter applies the technique to an analysis of the major 1992 presidential candidates. It presents a brief characterization of the achievement, affiliation, and power motives. The achievement motive involves a concern for excellence.
