Source credibility and presidential candidates in 1996: The changing nature of character and empathy evaluations

This study examines the importance of character, competence, empathy, and leadership in evaluations of presidential candidates in 1996. Public opinion research suggests changes in the importance and meaning of character in candidate evaluations. The results of this study strongly support distinctions between character‐generated liking of a candidate and vote choice among respondents in 1996. Results also suggest that perceptions of candidate empathy played a larger role in evaluations than in previous elections. Implications of these findings include the need for renewed political communication research on the importance and conceptualization of character and empathy, and the extension of current theory to explain differences in affective candidate evaluations and vote choice.