Decisions among the undecided: implicit attitudes predict future voting behavior of undecided voters.

ABSTRACT: Implicit attitudes have been suggested as a key to unlock the hidden preferences of undecided voters. Past research, however, offered mixed support for this hypothesis. The present research used a large nationally representative sample and a longitudinal design to examine the predictive utility of implicit and explicit attitude measures in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. In our analyses, explicit attitudes toward candidates predicted voting better for decided than undecided voters, but implicit candidate attitudes were predictive of voting for both decided and undecided voters. Extending our examination to implicit and explicit racial attitudes, we found the same pattern. Taken together, these results provide convergent evidence that implicit attitudes predict voting about as well for

SUBMITTER: Lundberg KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3906000 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature