Positive–Negative Asymmetry in the Evaluations of Political Candidates. The Role of Features of Similarity and Affect in Voter Behavior

In this study we followed the extension Tversky’s research on about features of similarity by with its application to open sets. Unlike the original closed-set model, in which a feature was shifted between a common and a distinctive set, we investigated how addition of new features and deletion of existing features affected similarity judgements. The model was tested empirically in a political context and we analyzed how positive and negative changes in a candidate’s profile affect the similarity of the politician to his or her ideal and opposite counterpart. The results showed a positive-negative asymmetry in comparison judgements, where enhancing negative features (distinctive for an ideal political candidate) had a greater effect on judgements than operations on positive (common) features. However, the effect was not observed for comparisons to a bad politician. Further analyses showed that in the case of a negative reference point, the relationship between similarity judgements and voting intention is was mediated by the affective evaluation of the candidate.