ABSTRACT
For both sophisticated and unsophisticated citizens alike, the feelings and cognitions that political fi gures elicit can affect how favorably they are evaluated and add signifi cant explanatory power over and above that due to such traditional predictors of political preference as party identifi cation, ideology, or issue position (Abelson et al. 1982; Marcus 1988, 1991). Through televised broadcasts, which provide frequent close-up images of known and powerful leaders, viewers may experience a range of short-lived episodic emotions, cognitive responses, and subjective evaluations that infl uence long-term attitudes and preferences (Masters and Sullivan 1993). Kinder (1986) hypothesizes that trait attributions of such perceived qualities as competence, integrity, leadership, and empathy are important to political evaluations because they may predict future performance. Yet, although affective reactions and trait attributions have been shown to be important determinants of political support, little is known about how a political leader’s verbal and nonverbal behavior evoke them (Bucy 2000; Masters and Sullivan 1993). The emotional appropriateness of presidential communication offers one possible explanation. The extent to which televised nonverbal behaviors, especially, are perceived as appropriate is an important factor in the political communication process that may affect subsequent feelings, judgments, and evaluations in the viewer.
