“I” value competence but “we” value social competence: The moderating role of voters' individualistic and collectivistic orientation in political elections

This investigation distinguishes interpersonally oriented social competence from intrapersonally oriented competence. It examines the influence of voters' individualism and collectivism orientation in affecting the roles of these two dimensions in predicting electoral outcomes. Participants made judgments of personality traits based on inferences from faces of political candidates in the U.S. and Taiwan. Two social outcomes were examined: actual election results and voting support of the participants. With respect to actual electoral success, perceived competence is more important for the candidates in the U.S. than for those in Taiwan, whereas perceived social competence is more important for the candidates in Taiwan than for those in the U.S. With respect to subjective voting support, within cultural findings mirror those found cross-culturally. Competence is valued more among voters who are more individualistic, and social competence is valued more among voters who are more collectivistic. These results highlight important omissions in the social perception/judgment literature.

► We distinguish social competence from intrapersonally oriented competence.
► We examine how voters' individualism and collectivism affect political elections.
► Perceived competence was more important for candidates in the U.S.
► Perceived social competence was more important for the candidates in Taiwan.