When the two prime candidates to become US president meet for their first head-to-head debate tonight, expect familiar insults to fly. Donald Trump is a 鈥渘arcissist鈥�. Hillary Clinton is a 鈥渓iar鈥�.
How worried should both politicians be that these labels now dominate public perceptions? Very. Recent research by psychologist Geoffrey Goodwin at the University of Pennsylvania has found that .
This applies to everyone from your best friend to your boss. But the more important the person鈥檚 role in society, the more important moral traits are when we evaluate them. So it鈥檚 an even bigger deal for those vying to be the next US president.
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In Clinton鈥檚 case, she has been dogged by the 鈥渄ishonest鈥� label for decades (鈥淐rooked Hillary鈥�, as Trump likes to say). The fallout over the killing of the US ambassador in Benghazi, Libya, while she was secretary of state, and the scandal over her use of a private email server for official communications, continue to fan the flames.
According to a recent NBC News poll, . A YouTube video, 鈥�,鈥� has 11 million views.
Undesirable label
In Trump鈥檚 case, the 鈥渘arcissist鈥� label comes up again and again. and found classic signs of this trait: extreme attention-seeking, excessive self-love and relentless self-promotion. .
As David Cay Johnston, author of The Making of Donald Trump, says:
If the psychological research is on track, then the impressions many people have of the two candidates will be dominated by these labels. It gets worse. A negative trait has also been found to eclipse positive ones in our minds. So whatever sense of humour, intelligence or cleverness Trump or Clinton might possess, it will get overshadowed.
Finally, these negative impressions also linger in our minds and take some shifting. Both candidates will have to work extra hard to try to rehabilitate their images. By contrast, it is pretty easy to lose a good impression of character quickly 鈥� one bad deed usually does the job.
So Clinton and Trump, , would be wise to combat what people see as their deepest moral failings. But what can they really do? They can continue to insist that they are honest and compassionate, but that鈥檚 not going to convince anyone.
Two things might help. The first is to own up to their shortcomings and ask for forgiveness. Secondly, they can commit to honesty and humility, especially when it hurts 鈥� when it might weaken their debate performance, or their fundraising, or their poll numbers. That will help show they mean it.
But while you might wait for contrition tonight, don鈥檛 hold your breath.
