Obama and Trudeau Don’t Count for Reasons
By 
From The Boston Globe comes this puzzling report on unconscious biases people have toward politicians. The headline (Study: The Democrats may have had JFK, but you’re more likely to find good-looking politicians among Republicans.) is pure clickbait but once you read, you may find yourself more confused than angry.
The Democrats may have had JFK and John Edwards, but you’re more likely to find good-looking politicians among Republicans.
OK, we have one citation here. Is one citation enough to make such an outrageous assertion, especially one so dependent on subjective opinion?
This is also the case for right-leaning politicians in Australia and Europe. Attractive people earn more, which makes them less supportive of redistribution, researchers say.
My head is spinning. I’m not sure how one assertion relates to the other. Are we talking about politicians or voters or both? And–again–are we really making the blanket assertion that right-leaning European politicians are better-looking?
Relatedly, people tend to assume that good-looking people have a higher socioeconomic status.
OK, but…
As a result, when presented with photos of the faces of unknown politicians, people tend to infer that good-looking politicians lean to the right.
People inferring politicians lean to the right does not make said politicians members of the Right.
Am I nuts or is this just a big dumb mess?