A study led by the University of Cologne suggests politicians are more likely to attract votes if they wear glasses.
Although some research shows that glasses are linked with a range of negative characteristics, such as being less likeable, less attractive, and most importantly, less dominant, glasses also increase perceptions of competence, the study authors, with people particularly associating glasses with a variety of competence-related characteristics, such as success, dependability, and industriousness, and most strongly, intelligence. Since competence has been shown to be a strong predictor of electoral success, they say, politicians wearing glasses are more likely to attract votes.
The researchers asked around 200 participants to choose between 16 pairs of photographs of politicians wearing (photoshopped) glasses or not.
They found that wearing glasses reliably boosts electoral success, irrespective of political orientation. The researchers said glasses offered an easy, effective, and robust way for politicians to change their facial features and increase the probability of electoral success in the west (as long as competence is important - in fact, this positive effect was especially strong when intelligence was deemed desirable). Even when voters are aware that politicians may be using glasses strategically, they are still more likely to vote for them. They also found the positive effect of glasses may not generalise beyond Western settings, with Indian voters less likely to vote for politicians wearing spectacles due to different cultural associations with glasses.
