Abstract
A question emerging from a review of the application of the semantic differential to the electoral process concerns whether a candidate's image is stimulus- or perceiver-determined, does a candidate have an image agreed upon by both his supporters and opponents or is a candidate viewed in one way by his supporters and in an entirely different way by others? The answer to this question should depend on the particular scales employed. The present study isolated a pool of stimulus-determined and a pool of perceiver-determined items. When applied to the 1972 Presidential Election, on the stimulus-determined scales both McGovern and Nixon supporters agreed on the characteristics of the two candidates but disagreed on which characteristics an “Ideal” President should possess. On the perceiver-determined scales, on the other hand, there was agreement on an “Ideal” President but disagreement about which candidate had these traits.
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