2026-04-13T04:13:23Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request
oai:recercat.cat:10230/698062026-02-27T01:01:46Zcom_2072_6col_2072_452952
RECERCAT author Breitenstein, Sofia author Kenny, John author Larner, Jac author Stiers, Dieter author Lewis-Beck, Michael S. 2025-03-04T11:04:27Z2026-02-25T23:46:04Z2025 Despite politicians’ authenticity being increasingly invoked in public discourse to explain their electoral fortunes, empirical research on the trait in electoral studies remains nascent. Here we advance our knowledge through a vignette survey experiment carried out on a national British sample. Firstly, we demonstrate that respondents are more likely to perceive a hypothetical politician as authentic when that politician resists political pressure in order to maintain a consistency between their stated policy positions and their political actions. This is the case whether respondents agree with their policy position or not. We also show that a candidate being perceived as authentic carries electoral benefits for them. Furthermore, consistency between a politician’s policy position and their actions enhances citizens’ perception of authenticity, consequently increasing the likelihood that they will vote for that politician. This study contributes to understanding authenticity in politics, offering valuable insights into the causal mechanisms of its electoral implications. © University of Chicago Press http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ET/home.html info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Authenticity Vote intention Consistency Survey experiment Policy position Immigration The authentic A**hole: candidate consistency, causality, and the vote info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion