Small differences in a poll’s rating scale—0 to 10 for honesty compared with –5 to +5, for example—influence how much people report liking a politician as well as their ensuing opinion of that politician.

Haddock, G., and R. Carrick. 1999. How to make a politician more likeable and effective: Framing political judgments through the numeric values of a rating scale. Social Cognition 17(Fall):298.

Rachael Carrick
University of Exeter
School of Psychology
Exeter EX4 4QG
United Kingdom

Geoffrey Haddock
University of Exeter
School of Psychology
Exeter EX4 4QG
United Kingdom

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 19, November 6, 1999, p. 299. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.