Is high self-esteem a path to the White House? The implicit theory of self-esteem and the willingness to vote for presidential candidates

The implicit theory of self-esteem proposes that individuals with ostensibly higher levels of self-esteem will generally be viewed more positively than those with lower levels of self-esteem. The present studies examined whether the perceived self-esteem levels of the 2008 presidential candidates would influence the willingness of individuals to consider voting for these candidates. Across two studies, participants were generally more willing to consider voting for candidates who were perceived as possessing higher levels of self-esteem. The most interesting exception to this general pattern was that male democrats and female republicans were actually more willing to consider voting for Hillary Clinton when they believed she possessed lower levels of self-esteem. Results will be discussed in the context of the implicit theory of self-esteem.