Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics: Online-First Articles

Perception of charisma in text and speech

The role of emotion dimensions and inclusive deixis

ORCID logo | University of Konstanz
ORCID logo | University of Konstanz
ORCID logo | University of Kent

The perception of leaders as charismatic personalities has been linked to the level of (positive) emotion in their messages. The present paper reports a cross-modal perception study on the relationship between perceived charisma and positive as well as negative emotions. One hundred forty-nine participants listened or read Brexit speeches by four British politicians (David Cameron, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Theresa May) and rated their charisma using a 7-point Likert scale. Emotions in speeches were quantified on three dimensions (valence, arousal, dominance) and supplemented by analyses of person deixis (I vs. we). Results revealed that effects of emotions on perceived charisma are moderated by the modality of speeches. Emotionally positive words as well as inclusive person deixis increased charisma ratings in written messages, but the effect was reduced or not present in auditory versions of these messages. Implications arise for studies of political discourse that tend to focus on scripted speeches.

Keywords: perception, charisma, personality, leadership, emotions, emotional valence, emotional arousal, modality, person deixis, Brexit
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Approaches to political charisma
    • 1.2Charisma and emotions
    • 1.3Unresolved issues
    • 1.4Research questions and hypotheses of the present study
    • 1.5Empirical study of charisma based on Brexit speeches
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Materials
    • 2.3Procedure
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1The effect of emotional messages
    • 3.2The effect of modality and emotional message
  • 4.Discussion
    • 4.1Content words: Emotion dimensions
    • 4.2Function words: Inclusive and exclusive deixis
    • 4.3Joined contribution: Content and function words
    • 4.4The moderating effect of modality
    • 4.5Summary, limitations and implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 8 February 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.23029.var
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