This study evaluates a computerized text analysis program, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), by investigating the relationship between the discourse and personalities of presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2008 presidential election in the United States. Analyses of speech samples (N = 141) from Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John McCain, and Sarah Palin were conducted using LIWC. The results show that in the context of political speech events, such as media interviews, political candidates make unique linguistic choices, which may be interpreted as displaying distinct personality traits. Yet, despite the statistical significance of the results, there are salient limitations of utilizing computerized methodologies to analyze political speech events, such as the limited interpretative capacity of the software to understand pragmatic and contextual language use.
Abe, Jo Ann A. 2011. “Changes in Alan Greenspan’s Language Use Across the Economic Cycle: A Text Analysis of his Testimonies and Speeches.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology 30 (2): 212–223. Doi: .
Charteris-Black, Jonathan. 2011. Politicians and Rhetoric: The Persuasive Power of Metaphor. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Chilton, Paul. 2004. Analyzing Political Discourse: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.
Huck, Schuyler W. 2012. Reading Statistics and Research. Boston: Pearson.
Levine, Kenneth J., Naeemah Clark, Daniel M. Haygood, and Robert A. Muenchen. 2011. “Change: How Young Voters Interpreted the Messages Sent During the 2008 Presidential Election Season.” American Behavioral Scientist 55 (4): 479–501. Doi: .
Myers, Greg. 2008. “Analyzing Interactions in Broadcast Debates.” In Qualitative Discourse Analysis in the Social Sciences, ed. by Ruth Wodak, and Michal Krzyzanowski, 121–144. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Newman, Matthew L., Carla J. Groom, Lori D. Handelman, and James W. Pennebaker. 2008. “Gender Differences in Language Use: An Analysis of 14,000 Text Samples.” Discourse Processes 451: 211–236. Doi: .
Newman, Matthew L., James W. Pennebaker, Diane S. Berry, and Jane M. Richards. 2003. “Lying Words: Predicting Deception from Linguistic Styles.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 291: 665–675. Doi: .
Pennebaker, James W., Cindy K. Chung, Molly Ireland, Amy Gonzales, and Roger J. Booth. 2007. The Development and Psychometric Properties of LIWC2007. Austin, TX: University of Texas. Doi: .
Pennebaker, James W., and Laura A. King. 1999. “Linguistic Styles: Language Use as an Individual Difference.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 771: 1296–1312.
Pennebaker, James W., and Thomas C. Lay. 2002. “Language Use and Personality Crises: Analyses of Major Rudolph Giuliani Press Conferences.”Journal of Research in Personality 361: 271–282.
Pennebaker, James W., Matthias R. Mehl, and Kate Niederhoffer. 2003. “Psychological Aspects of Natural Language Use: Our Words, Our Selves.” Annual Review of Psychology 541: 547–577. Doi: .
Pennebaker, James W., Richard B. Slatcher, and Cindy K. Chung. 2005. “Linguistic Markers of Psychological State through Media Interviews: John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004, Al Gore in 2000.” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 5 (1): 197–204.
Rude, Stephanie S., Eva-Maria Gortner, and James W. Pennebaker. 2004. “Language Use of Depressed and Depressed-Vulnerable College Students.” Cognition and Emotion 18 (8): 1121–1133. Doi: .
Slatcher, Richard B., Cindy K. Chung, James W. Pennebaker, and Lori D. Stone. 2007. “Winning Words: Individual Differences in Linguistic Style among U.S. Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates.” Journal of Research in Personality 411: 63–75. Doi: .
Stirman, Shannon Wiltsey, and James W. Pennebaker. 2001. “Word Use in the Poetry of Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Poets.”Psychosomatic Medicine 631: 517–522.
Tausczik, Yla R., and James W. Pennebaker. 2010. “The Psychological Meaning of Words: LIWC and Computerized Text Analysis Methods.” Journal of Language and Social Psychology 29 (1): 24–54. Doi: .
“The Choice.” [Editorial]. The New Yorker. Retrieved from [URL]
Wasburn, Philo C., and Mara H. Wasburn. 2011. “Media Coverage of Women in Politics: The Curious Case of Sarah Palin.” Media, Culture and Society 33 (7): 1027–1041. Doi: .
Winter, David G. 2005. “Things I’ve Learned about Personality from Studying Political Leaders at a Distance.”Journal of Personality 73 (3): 557–584.
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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