Attractiveness of the "Middle of the Road" Political Candidate

Three classroom experiments were done in which subjects evaluated hypothetical political candidates based on the candidates' positions on three issues. In the first study, subjects evaluated the candidate advocating a neutral position on the issues lower than all other candidates. The second study systematically varied the number of neutral positions the candidates could take and the same result was found, viz., the more neutral positions the candidate took, the lower the evaluations. It was further found that one's own political position did not affect the negative evaluation of the neutral candidate. Subjects' perceptions of the candidate advocating neutrality were assessed in a third study. Results are discussed in the framework of dealing with possible optimal political strategies that candidates might use.