Why Do Voters Behave The Way They Do?

January 22nd, 2008 | jchaager | commentary

I read an insightful column in the Seattle Times today by David Brooks of the New York Times. In it, he discusses the seemingly arbitrary nature of voters in the recent primaries. As pundits and talking heads struggle to explain why voters logically chose one particular candidate over another, Brooks points to a far different reality. Voters aren’t logical. Like all humans, they are deeply emotional.

In reality, we voters — all of us — make emotional, intuitive decisions about whom we prefer, and then come up with post-hoc rationalizations to explain the choices that were already made beneath conscious awareness.

Think about your own experiences. When you look at a candidate for president, what are you reacting to? Rarely do you react solely to their message. It’s how they hold themselves. What they look like. Was that smile genuine? Does he remind you of a friend in college? All these things contribute to our impression of the candidates.

Look at the rest of your world. You see someone on the street dressed in a suit, standing tall. Or someone in the store with calloused hands wearing worn clothes. In that moment, your subconscious makes a judgment about that person. Is it right, or is it wrong? You may never know. But you make the judgments just the same.

Each of us has an unconscious but consistent way of construing the world. Some of us light up when we see a candidate being intelligent, others when we see a candidate being friendly or sentimental. This is the mode we use every day to make sense of the world.

And like your mother always told you, first impressions are key. In those moments, people form their opinion of you, and you’ll spend a lifetime trying to change it. Something for the candidates to keep in mind.