Decoy candidate
- (1) |
- 1 (11) |
- 2 (458) |
- 4 (1) |
- 5 (2) |
- 9 (17) |
- A (1544) |
- B (1153) |
- C (1882) |
- D (996) |
- E (1244) |
- F (805) |
- G (721) |
- H (1011) |
- I (1017) |
- J (507) |
- K (113) |
- L (618) |
- M (1170) |
- N (606) |
- O (248) |
- P (2000) |
- Q (53) |
- R (1294) |
- S (1199) |
- T (767) |
- U (259) |
- V (402) |
- W (624) |
- x (3) |
- Y (39) |
- Z (14) |
As if John Edwards needed another reason to feel the electoral heat
Front-runners are usually focused on racing each other. They often do not realize that when people cannot decide between two leading candidates -- and it doesn't matter whether we are talking about politicians or consumer appliances -- our decision can be subtly swayed by whoever is in third place.
Psychologists call this the decoy effect: In a perfectly rational world, third candidates should only siphon votes away from one or both of the leading contenders. Under no circumstances should they cause the vote share of either front-runner to increase. In the actual world, however, third candidates regularly have the unintended effect of making one of the front-runners look better than before in the minds of undecided voters.
Decoy candidate | Psychology | Third Place | 2008 Presidential Elections
» email this quotes | liza's quotes | 332 reads
