Looking Competent Does Not Appeal to All Voters Equally: The Role of Social Class and Politicians’ Facial Appearance for Voting Likelihood

Voters generally value competence in politicians. Four studies, all conducted in Germany, show that this is especially pronounced in people of higher compared with lower social class. The first study, with a representative sample (N1 = 2239), found that the reported importance of competence in politicians increased with increasing socioeconomic status (SES). This was mediated by self-perceived competence which was higher in participants of higher SES. In three further studies (two preregistered, N2a&2b = 396, N3 = 400) participants merely saw pictures of politicians’ faces. Perceived competence based on facial appearance increased the likelihood of voting for a politician. Again, this effect was stronger among participants of higher compared with lower SES. This moderation persisted after controlling for participants’ political orientation and politicians’ perceived warmth and dominance. We discuss implications for future research on the psychological underpinnings of social class as well as appearance effects in the political context

Jumping on the bandwagon: The role of voters’ social class in poll effects in the context of the 2021 German federal election

Published findings of opinion polls are an important part of the political coverage before elections. Thus, researchers have long investigated whether the perceived popularity of political parties can lead to even more voters following this majority. However, empirical findings on this so-called political bandwagon effect are mixed. In the present paper, we integrate theories from political science and social psychology to explain these inconsistencies through social class as a potential moderating variable. Based on previous findings regarding consumer decisions, we hypothesized that bandwagon effects are greater among voters with lower social class. To investigate this hypothesis, we combined data from the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) Rolling Cross-Section 2021, which was collected over the 55 days before the 2021 German federal election, with the results of published preelection polls. Using separate multilevel models for each of the parties, we found no evidence for bandwagon effects. Only for the Social Democratic Party were poll results related to voting intentions assessed on the following day, suggesting that polls might have contributed to the party’s electoral success. However, there was no evidence for a moderation of bandwagon effects by voters’ social class. Accordingly, we could not resolve the mixed findings in this field of research. Our results point to important open questions in research on bandwagon effects in multiparty systems as well as on effects of social class in Germany. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11615-022-00417-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Special issue conclusion : The GLES Open Science Challenge 2021 in hindsight: experiences gained and lessons learned

Die GLES Open Science Challenge 2021 ist ein Pilotprojekt, das zeigt, dass Registered Reports ein geeignetes und gewinnbringendes Publikationsformat in der quantitativen Politikwissenschaft sind, die dazu beitragen können, die Transparenz und Replizierbarkeit im Forschungsprozess zu erhöhen und somit substanzielle und relevante Beiträge für unsere Disziplin zu liefern. Das Ergebnis ist die Veröffentlichung dieses Sonderheftes mit sieben Registered Reports, die auf Daten der German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) basieren, die im Rahmen der Bundestagswahl 2021 erhoben wurden. Dieser abschließende Artikel des Sonderheftes bringt die Perspektiven von Autor*innen, Gutachter*innen, Organisator*innen und Herausgeber*innen zusammen, um eine Bilanz der verschiedenen Erfahrungen und Lehren zu ziehen, die im Laufe dieses Projektes gewonnen wurden

The role of social class in the formation of voting intentions and product choices: A social cognitive perspective

This dissertation examines the role of social class as a moderator of social factors previously identified as influencing voting intentions and product choices. It shows that voters with higher social class tend to place relatively more weight on politicians’ perceived competence when forming voting preferences. Furthermore, it shows whether social class-based differences in the tendency to follow a perceived majority preference generalize to the political context and are replicable in the consumer context. Importantly, no evidence for a moderating role of social class in these contexts could be found. By narrowing the research gap on how social class shapes the formation of voting intentions and consumption choices, this dissertation contributes to identifying the mechanisms that shape individuals’ life contexts

Online Supplement

Online Supplemen

Probing spatiotemporal fractionation on the preclinical level

In contrast to conventional radiotherapy, spatiotemporal fractionation (STF) delivers a distinct dose distribution in each fraction. The aim is to increase the therapeutic window by simultaneously achieving partial hypofractionation in the tumour along with near uniform fractionation in normal tissues. STF has been studied in silico under the assumption that different parts of the tumour can be treated in different fractions. Here, we develop an experimental setup for testing this key assumption on the preclinical level using high-precision partial tumour irradiation in an experimental animal model. We further report on an initial proof-of-concept experiment. We consider a reductionist model of STF in which the tumour is divided in half and treated with two complementary partial irradiations separated by 24 h. Precise irradiation of both tumour halves is facilitated by the image-guided small animal radiation research platform X-RAD SmART. To assess the response of tumours to partial irradiations, tumour growth experiments are conducted using mice carrying syngeneic subcutaneous tumours derived from MC38 colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. Tumour volumes were determined daily by calliper measurements and validated by CT-volumetry. We compared the growth of conventionally treated tumours, where the whole tumour was treated in one fraction, to the reductionist model of STF. We observed no difference in growth between the two groups. Instead, a reduction in the irradiated volume (where only one half of the tumour was irradiated) resulted in an intermediate response between full irradiation and unirradiated control. The results obtained by CT-volumetry supported the findings of the calliper-derived measurements. An experimental setup for precise partial tumour irradiation in small animals was developed, which is suited to test the assumption of STF that complementary parts of the tumour can be treated in different fractions on the preclinical level. An initial experiment supports this assumption, however, further experiments with longer follow-up and varying fractionation schemes are needed to provide additional support for STF