Who candidates are influences the emotional appeals they can make in their campaigns

In many elections, emotions are often just as, or even more important than, facts in voters’ minds. But how do candidates’ characteristics affect the way they use emotional appeals in their campaigns? In new research, Zack Scott and Jared McDonald find that women candidates use more appeals to joy than men, Republicans invoke fear more than Democrats, but not disgust, and that White and Black candidates use emotional appeals in the same ways. They write that these findings show that there is an unequal playing field in US politics, where some candidates can lean into emotions that reflect public sentiment, while others must steer clear.