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“Happy warriors” Revisited: Hedonic and agonic display repertoires of presidential candidates on the evening news

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Erik P. Bucy  and
Maria Elizabeth Grabe
Erik P. Bucy
Affiliation:
ebucy@indiana.edu
Maria Elizabeth Grabe
Affiliation:
mgrabe@indiana.edu Department of Telecommunications Indiana University 1229 East Seventh Street Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

Abstract

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Absent from most analyses of political news are detailed assessments of the candidates' nonverbal behavior, which has been shown experimentally to have considerable persuasive influence. Unlike attractiveness and other relatively stable aspects of appearance, facial displays are highly variable and reveal important moment-to-moment information about the emitter's internal state. In this paper we argue that facial displays are influential elements within political news and examine the character of televised candidate displays over four presidential election cycles. The analysis considers coverage of major party nominees shown during the general elections of 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 on the major broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). To motivate our hypotheses, we draw on the biopolitics literature that has identified three classes of displays relevant to the study of nonverbal political behavior: happiness/reassurance, anger/threat, and fear/evasion. The analysis focuses on the relationship between the display types shown in election coverage, the context in which the displays are shown, and candidate standings in the polls.

Keywords

biopoliticshedonic and agonic behaviornetwork news coveragenonverbal communicationtelevised leader displays
Type
Research Article
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 78 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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