New study suggests hot Sarah Palin should dowdy down for 2012

Newly released academic research suggests that Sarah Palin's sexiness, while great for selling copies of Vogue magazine and political buttons about the hottest governor from the coldest state last fall, may actually have hurt her vote-getting ability, which seems to be what elections are about.

Of course, standing next to John McCain is bound to make pretty much anyone look pretty much prettier. Which may be one reason the crowds often chanted "Sar-RAH! Sa-RAH!" when the Republican governor and Republican senator appeared together as the GOP presidential ticket.

According to an article by Tom Jacobs on the website of Santa Barbara's Miller-McCune Center, recently completed research at the University of South Florida indicates that, at least among a select group of students there, those who found the hockey mom more attractive also judged her less competent, less intelligent and less capable.

This didn't seem to have much impact in Palin's 2006 primary upset victory and statewide election as the largest state's first female governor.

But the finding, being published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, does conform with previous research that found attractive women in high-status jobs were perceived as less competent.

Both outcomes would seem to strongly indicate there's more to the glass ceiling for females than the actual glass. No news to them.

According to Nathan Heflick, a psychologist and one of the research authors, it wasn't Palin's appearance per se that turned off the research subjects.

"It was the effect her appearance had on their perception of her competence and humanity," Heflick said. "Those variables made people less likely to vote for her."

All of which would seem to suggest that, for any hope of success in 2012 or beyond, the 45-year-old governor needs to whack off that hair, pork up a bit and get some cheap, baggy pantsuits over at the Wasilla Wal-Mart. And instead of that come-on wink that many thought they liked, she'd do well to develop an uncontrollable facial twitch.

Also lose the kids, stop smiling, get angrier, so she can look more congressional. That's been working real well for Republicans the last two elections.

For olde time's sake, we've thrown in a video down below of Palin addressing a crowd that seems to like her the way she is.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photos: SarahPAC.com;  Associated Press

Comments

[Anais]

This story is downright silly and the results of the study questionable. The only people who found Palin "competent" were the ones she appealed to BECAUSE of her sexuality. The rest of us found her incompetent every time she opened her mouth. Each time she did, something inane or completely unrelated popped out. A candidate for national office must be versed on all the issues, and she was versed on exactly none of them. Hillary Clinton didn't dowdy herself up to become a viable candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination. She has been a lifelong student, admirable attorney, intelligent woman and hard worker who delves deeply into the issues she cares about. Palin, not at all.

[plankbob]

It wasn't her looks that did her in, it was her lack of intellectual depth. No designer eyeglasses could hide that spectacle.

[Kevin Morgan]

Of the things that conveyed incompetence from Palin, her looks were the least. This study may as well have determined that apples fall from trees because they are red.

[Chunkdog]

Perhaps the fact that she had zero experience, was inept and vapid had more to do with it.

[DR]

It's hard to do such research on such a polarizing public person. Those who disagreed with her views may have felt the need to say she was attractive to indicate that it wasn't her personally, while those that agreed with her views may have wanted to indicate that it wasn't about her looks.

[Grace]

Oh come on. You can't separate how Palin sounded -- also "less competent, less intelligent and less capable" -- from how she looked.

She was inarticulate in every forum but her GOP convention acceptance speech (which was written for her, and which she delivered very skillfully). She appealed to the worst at some of her rallies.

She could not answer most interviewer's questions, nor stay on point.

I suspect Sarah Palin might not have a political career at all BUT for her looks.

[robert]

stupid comment. if she had been ugly she never would have made it on the ticket in the first place and in the second pace fewer people would have paid attention to her. as it was she was unpolished and stupid. --signed, a republican.

[hope4usa]

What a load of crap. Yes she is attractive. There are many attractive women who have a brain. This woman unfortunately, is ignorant. It wasn't her looks that held her back it was her lack of knowledge on multiple subjects that preluded any possiblity of her becoming Vice President to a 70+ old man with skin cancer. When you look at quotes like "I can see Russia from my window" you can't put that person in a position of authority. Compare her on policy issues and knowledge with Hilary Clinton--Clinton slays her. This study is frankly obnoxious--it completely ignores Palin's lack of knowledge.

[LA-Ark]

Actually, I disagree with this study. What hurt Sarah Palin was her lack of knowledge!!!!

[Jeffery P. Segall RN]

What is exy about a HYPOCRITE?!?!

[Mike]

No, Sarah Palin cid not lose votes to the ticket, due to her good looks.

She lost votes for the ticket, due to her ignorance, lack of brains, and extremist ideology.

If she were ugly rather than pretty, she would not have gained votes, she would have lost still more.

[truth]

I'd recommend studying the issues before retouching her makeup. This is stupid, as unfortunately Palin demonstrated herself to be.

[hms]

She IS less competent! And McCain was old, tired and his philosophy and mannerisms worn out. That's why they lost, pure and simple.

[z]

Are these people kidding? The woman demonstrated massive ignorance of both the political arena and the world around her. Her record as governor is riddled with corruption. She has views that are toxic to the majority of Americans. It wasn't her appearance that made people doubt her competence. It was the fact that she appeared utterly incompetent.

[frieda]

her appearance had an effect on perceptions of her competence and humanity? are you kidding me? she is very attractive, but the issues were her intelligence and competence, not appearance. we're talking about a candidate for vice president of the united states. there must be a certain level of competence. not someone who went to 5 colleges in 6 years or 6 colleges in 5 years or whatever it was.

[Ralph]

Torpedoed by a hairdo??? Get Real! Her electoral failure was based on her inability to utter an understandable and cogent sentence in response to an inquiry on national policy-except for sloganeering such as "drill baby drill!"

[alp]

She didn't get elected because of her brain.

[A. Humane]

Sarah Palin is hot in a mousy, overly demeaning teacher/librarian way which appeals to "momma's boy"/cuckold type men who want to be chastised, humiliated and orally and mentally abused by a woman and looked up to by shy insecure, low self-esteem women who have been socialized to accept being dominated by smarmy, pushy, boorish social "holier-and-better-than-thou" types. She also appeals to snobby people who are overly concerned with their looks and social position whom aspire to belong to the clique that looks down and looks to exclude everyone else as being less attractive, less popular and therefore less valued members of society. She's basically among those who mistreat others because they think they're the "Chosen Ones."

[Clay Dedeaux]

Am I crazy or is this bad research? They are saying that voters thought Sarah Palin was incompetent because she is pretty. Maybe voters simply considered her incompetent, but oh, by the way, kinda hot. Well bad looks did not help Hillary. So are they claiming that every candidate should look the same and be about as smart (a regression to the mean); but how would anyone stand out? Maybe future candidates will wear bags on their head (S. Palin), as others are forced to get cosmetic surgery (H. Clinton)? Lastly, the research on attractiveness is associated with superior personal qualities/characteristics, and the desirability of their company. I don't understand it.

[marnie]

It's not her being good looking that makes her appear incompetent, she IS incompetent! Did these psycholgist not see her interviews with Katy Coric and Charles Gibson?

[Allen Braun]

Eh? She lost 'cause McCain lost. In any case she didn't come across as very bright. "Drill baby, drill." is not exactly genius.

[A.B.]

Actually, many of us disliked her because she role modeled a whole lot of really bad ideas: hunting from the air, abstinence, no gay marriage, poor parenting, stealing, arrogance, to name a few. Add to that her stunning ignorance of national and world events and you have a picture of a moron. So, where I see moronic, you see beautiful and thus we find out once again that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[Crabby Abbey]

Oh b.s. Incompetence is incompetence no matter how good looking you are. She's actually not that hot, she just has a good figure. But she's cross-eyed. I wonder if she still reads EVERYTHING.

[Tandlayn]

I generally, agree with the study. However, even with the sexy persona, she could of overcome the perception that she is brainless. Can you imagine if with those looks, her position as Gov. if she would have acted in a responsible intelligent way instead of just a mindless attack dog, she would of had a devastating effect on the democrats. None of the men in the GOP would have been able to hold a candle to her. Instead she used every sleazy tactic in the world to promote herself including using her children as props... She cannot overcome the Couric interviews, ever, they were devastating. Palin thought her quick celebrity would get her through.... instead her lack of integrity and intellegence became the shinning star.

[Karen]

What a load of crap..her looks were the only reason McPalin got as many votes as they did..please stop with the monday morning quarterbacking MSM; they lost because the Obama/Biden camp ran a better campaign and quit making excuses for the Caribou Barbi..

[Adam Vant]

Ridiculous. Sarah Palin's looks had nothing to do with it. The stupid and ugly things which came out of her mouth did her in. She came off as an uneducated, narrow-minded, provincial bonehead. Plus, hate to tell you, but she's not all that good-looking.

[Kathleen Hussein in Maine]

It's not simply that she's extremely pretty. Jennifer Granholm is, too. Sarah Palin's a babe. She's working it. The hair, the dangly earrings, the tattooed lip liner, the too much blush and bronzer, the tanning bed, the outrageously expensive clothes all conspired to make her seem like the vain, silly, fluffernutter that she is. Remember John Edwards? His preening didn't help him, and he revealed himself to be the egotist many of us suspected he was. Sarah Palin doesn't have to get dowdy, she just has to let her ideas and intelligence shine more. Fat chance. Thank God the electorate isn't as vacuous as she is.

[Maksym]

Good look did not hurt Palin, being a Republican did.

[H. Hilborn]

Her looks helped propel her into the national spotlight, but in the long run, superficial appearance can't outweigh disqualifying deficits. Democrats should surreptitiously support her national political efforts, so she can continue to drain away energy and resources which might otherwise flow to more formidable Republican candidates.

[Mr Bo Jangles]

One step back for women; a leap back for mankind. It's a pretty sad state when we devalue a woman because she is pleasant to look at. I for one liked hearing what Palin had to say...does she really have to limit her choices to baggy pantsuits and frumpy hair-doos?

[MD Rackham]

I guess I should read the original study, but how did they control for the fact that Sarah Palin *is* "less competent, less intelligent and less capable"? Two months of the campaign, and the months since, have done nothing to change that initial impression. In fact, it's gotten even less flattering for her.

Yes, there are women (and men) who skate by solely on their looks. We've all known some of them. Then there are women (and men) who are extremely smart and capable and would probably succeed anywhere, but also happen to be attractive. Whatever the initial impression, it doesn't take long to figure out which type you're dealing with.

Palin started out with the perfect strategy: get introduced and photographed, then hide out. It was only after she came out of hiding that we all realized there was nothing there but looks. Oh, and a certain animal cunning that allowed her to use other people to get things for herself (think wardrobe).

But not much in the realm of competence, intelligence, or capability was ever on display.

[IonaTrailer]

No, you are wrong.

It wasn't that she was attractive that turned people off - what turned people off is that she's a small minded, fundamentalist, who lacks the ability to think critically.

[JohnRJ08]

What a joke! The only thing Palin had going for her in 2008 was her looks. There obviously wasn't any substance there, and all she did at her rallies was go on the attack and keep repeating the word "maverick" over and over again. If she really wants to increase her appeal, I think she needs to drop the demagoguery, take a few speaking lessons, and study world history for a year or two. Then, she might be taken more seriously by voters.

[Rory]

Her looks are one thing; her complete inability to comprehend the issues are another. With the answers she gave, Palin is close to being a MRF.

[Polomoche]

Absurd. Her good looks worked FOR her, otherwise she would never have been selected to begin with. The "perception of her competence and humanity" was shaped not by her appearance, but by the silly and ignorant things she said.

[Big Jim Slade]

Perhaps the silliest article in the LAT's this year? Let's face the hypocrisy head on- the feminist movement is control by ugly women. Based on what Obama's done so far (bipartisan my sweet buttocks), I'd be thrilled to have Palin as President.

[gobruinhoops]

Really??? She may be an Alaska '10', but she's an LA 5 or 6 at best. This idea that Palin is hot says more about how many hogs there are in the South and Midwest than it does her good looks.

[mwestorca]

Nah - it's not her looks. It's what she says. It's how she says it.

[Ross]

And if she'd been valued for her IQ she'd have been worth what?

[Glenn Reed]

There's a word for those who judged Sarah Palin as attractive but less competent, less intelligent and less capable: Perceptive.

[grainne]

in my opinion palin's attractiveness had absolutely nothing to do with her failure as a candidate. in fact, i was interested in her, even though i was solidly an obama voter, because she seemed so charismatic at first. but i was outraged by her willingness to take the job considering her ineptitude when it comes to issiues and politics at a national and international level. add her rabble-rousing at the expense of obama at rallies and her parrot-like performance at the vp debate, and i had plenty of reasons to work as hard as i could to help keep her out of dc.

[Patrick Dowd]

So let me get this straight. A good looking, dare I say sexy woman, needs to "dowdy down" to attract voters but a man that is presented as the sexual fantasy of the women of America is just fine for president. Go figure.
I think if this brain trust did just a little more study or is that any study at all, I think they would discover another reason for her sudden turn around after the inauguration. Take a look at the treatment she was given in the media. After the way she was portrayed, unfairly for sure, the Wicked Witch of the West could have done better.

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher

[marc]

how about the stupid thing that came out of her mouth? maybe that made voters feel less confident!

[Diane]

Why can't these rationalizations about why the McCain/Palin ticket lost STOP???????
People didn't vote for them because they were perceived as incompetent. Once Sarah Palin had to answer real questions instead of reading a speech people knew she would not be able to handle the VP position.
It is as simple as that.
She could not even figure out what the job entailed a week before the election.
She was chosen to bring in the Evangelical vote, but had no experience or the smarts to do the job.

[djs]

Actually, if Sarah had just kept her mouth shut, she would have been perceived as competent. She was her own undoing. At no time did she display the demeanor or attitude or intellect that I would feel comfortable with as representing me or the United States.
Although I am guessing this will be her new attention-seeking whine - "I was just too pretty!".
Barf.

[Lee B.]

It couldn't be that people weren't voting for her because she presented as a fiscally irresponsible, incompetent wingnut.

[djs]

Actually, if Sarah had just kept her mouth shut, she would have been perceived as competent. She was her own undoing. At no time did she display the demeanor or attitude or intellect that I would feel comfortable with as representing me or the United States.
Although I am guessing this will be her new attention-seeking whine - "I was just too pretty!".
Barf.

[Dan]

Gov Palin's looks had nothing to do with it. It was her lack of knowledge of subjects such as thinking Africa is a country and not being able to say which newspapers she reads that did her in. Definately the GOP wanted some eye candy as McCain's running mate but they would've been FAR better served had McCain chosen someone more qualified, as there were plenty of very able famale politicians he could have chosen such as Christine Todd Whitman and otheres.

[KDB]

Oh, please... Palin was judged less intelligent by the things she said, not because she's some sort of MILF.

[Becky Montgomery]

She was perceived as less competent because she WAS and IS less competent. When you can't even name a magazine or newspaper you read....

She scared me to death and it had nothing to do with her looks.