Right-wing politicians prefer the emotional left

Area of Science:

• Political Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Research indicates political attitudes may have neurological underpinnings.
• Conservatives exhibit enhanced emotional face detection and utilization in campaigning.
• Facial emotion expression is more prominent on the left side of the face.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if political ideology influences posing asymmetry in politicians' official photographs.
• To determine if conservatives and liberals exhibit different cheek preferences in photographic portraits.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 1538 official photographs of conservative and liberal politicians.
• Photographs were sourced from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Quantification of left cheek display versus forward-facing poses.

Main Results:

• Conservatives were significantly more likely to display their left cheek compared to liberals.
• Liberals were more likely to face forward in their official photographs than conservatives.
• This posing asymmetry was consistent across the four studied nations.

Conclusions:

• Politicians' posing behavior in official photographs may be influenced by their political ideology.
• Conservative politicians' tendency to display the left cheek could be an intuitive strategy to convey emotion.
• Understanding these nonverbal cues is crucial as portraits can influence voter decisions.