A candidate's use of aggressive communication and the electorates' response: Predicting presidential election outcomes

The purpose of this examination is to determine the role of verbal aggression in Presidential debates. Using six types of verbally aggressive messages, coders examined one Presidential debate from nine Presidential elections to determine the amount of verbal aggression used by each candidate. The findings from this examination indicate that there is a pattern for the use of verbal aggression in Presidential debates. Challengers use significantly more verbal aggression than incumbents while five of the nine elections had the winner using less verbally aggressive messages than the loser. Results of this study support the theory that challengers are forced to go on the attack and use verbal aggression more often than incumbents. Implications of the results and paths for further research are also offered.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication Studies

Year dc:date.available

2005

Author dc:creator

• Sutton, Matthew Luke

Contributors dc:contributor

• Theodore A. Avtgis.
• Matthew M. Martin
• Keith Weber

• Communication
• Political science

Identifier

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/793

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-1796