Candidate Repositioning, Valence, and a Backfire Effect from Criticism
Author | Andrew Gooch |
DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X221125222 |
Published date | 01 November 2022 |
Date | 01 November 2022 |
Article
AmericanPoliticsResearch
2022,Vol.50(6)757–768
©TheAuthor(s)2022
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/1532673X221125222
journals.sagepub.com/home/apr
CandidateRepositioning,Valence,anda
BackfireEffectfromCriticism
AndrewGooch
1
Abstract
Politicianswhoswitchpolicypositionsareoftencriticizedforbeinginconsistent“flip-floppers”,whichsuggestsavalencepenalty
forrepositioning.Usingasurveyexperimentwithsixtreatmentconditionsandasampleof2694respondents,resultsshowthat
candidatesreceiveanincreaseinfavorabilityandperceivedcompetencywhenholdingaconsistentpositiononasylumseekers
fromthecampaigntoholdingoffice.Repositioningonasylumseekersreducesfavorabilityandperceivedcompetency.However,
intreatmentconditionswherethecandidateiscriticizedfor“flip-flopping”byunelectedgroups,candidatefavorabilityimproves
relativetoatreatmentconditionwhereonlytherepositioningispresented.Theseresultssuggestthatabackfireeffectmight
occurfromcriticisms.Thisbackfireoccursonaverageacrossallrespondents.Thisstudycontributestothelineofresearchthat
showsmechanismsthatoffsetthenegativeeffectsofrepositioning.
Keywords
repositioning,experiment,valence,backfireeffect
AnenduringpartofAmericanpoliticsincludespoliticians
repositioningfromonesideofanissuetoanotherthroughout
theircareers,oftendubbednegativelyas“flip-flopping”.
Whenrepositioningoccurs,politiciansareoftencriticizedfor
it,andtheconventionalwisdomisthatitcannegativelyaffect
theirelectoralprospects.Evenbeforethetermflip-flopping
becameinvogue,criticismsofrepositioningwereassociated
withtheterm“waffling”,whichoriginatedasacriticismof
JimmyCarterfor“wafflingandwiggling”onissues(Allgeier
etal.,1979).Repositioningisalsocriticizedintermsof
valencebypoliticaleliteswhererepositioningcreatesa
“credibilitygap”forcandidates(Spragens,1980).Salient
examplesofrepositioninghavetheirownrichhistoryand
specificcircumstances,whicharenotexactlyreplicatedhere,
butthepervasivenessofcriticismsforflip-floppingincon-
temporarypoliticssuggeststhatrepositioningcomeswitha
reputationalcost.Thisstudyevaluateshowcitizensrespond
toacandidatewhorepositionsintheshorttermfroma
campaigntotakingoffice.Morecrucially,thisstudyevalu-
ateshowcitizensareaffectedbycriticismsof“flip-flopping”
fromunelectedgroupslikethemedia,voters,andactivists.
Dothesecriticismsfurtherreducethepopularityofcandi-
dates?Or,dotheybackfireandactuallyhelptheflip-flopping
candidate?
Repositioningisalsoanenduringpartofpoliticalscience
research.Downs(1957)arguedthatindividualscareabout
statementsmadeduringcampaigns“onlyinsofarasthose
statementsserveasguidestothepoliciesthatpartywillcarry
outinoffice”(107).Candidateswhowanttomaximizetheir
voteshareshouldholdaconsistentpositionfromonetime
periodtoanothersothattheirpolicystatementsarereliable
(Downs,1957).Consistentpositioningalsobenefitstheparty
brand,whichinturninfluencesacandidate’selectoralsuccess
(Snyder&Ting,2002).However,isolatingtheeffectof
repositioningonacandidate’selectoralprospectsiscon-
foundingbecauserepositioningoccursatthesametimeas
manyotherpotentiallycausalfactors.Inaddition,thenature
ofeachrepositioningcasehastimeperiod-specificfeatures
makinggeneralizationsdifficult.Thismakesattributing
electoralsuccessorfailuretorepositioningconfounding
usingobservationaldata.Inaddition,successfulpoliticians
donotrepositionhaphazardlyorrandomly.Switchingpo-
sitionstypicallyoccurbecausethepoliticianbelievestheyare
advantagedbydoingsoforavarietyofpossiblereasons,
perhapsbecauseconstituents,donors,and/orinterestgroups
supportthenewposition(e.g.,Karol,2009).Previousre-
searchersrecognizedthesethreatstocausality,andasaresult,
researchhasfocusedonisolatingspecificaspectsofre-
positioningusingexperiments.Mostexperimentalresearch
1
RowanUniversity,Glassboro,NJ,USA
CorrespondingAuthor:
AndrewGooch,PoliticalScienceandEconomics,RowanUniversity,201
MullicaHillRoad,Glassboro,NJ08028,USA.
Email:gooch@rowan.edu
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting

Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
