AnalyzeWords News
Our most recent Tweets, Press Releases and Updates
PRESS RELEASE
Monday November 2, 2009
In VA guv race, both candidates lack warmth & good cheer in Tweets
While polls show McDonnell pulling ahead, new psychological analysis of both men's Twitter activity reveal equal inability to relate to voters
Washington, DC- In the final day before the Virginia voters hit the polls, a new Analyze Words comparison of Bob McConnell and Creighton Deeds' Tweets show two distant, minimally upbeat candidates with surprising differences in depressive, social and thinking styles.
Front-runner McDonnell is much more "plugged in" and less "depressed" than Deeds; but Deeds is noticeably more touchy-feely (45% sensory category) in his Tweets than McDonnell (33%).
In a race that has seen bitter attacks-- from McDonnell's thesis headaches to Deeds' primary fight-- neither candidate is particularly upbeat (McDonnell 34%, Deeds 35%) nor personable (McDonnell 34%, Deeds 33%). Rather each candidate is quite high in the arrogant dimension, though Deeds (74%) finally has a comfortable edge over McDonnell (63%).
“Neither of the Virginia candidates comes across as particularly likable or warm,” University of Texas Professor of Psychology and www.analyzewords.com co-founder James Pennebaker said. “In a state where women voters have been dubbed the swing demographic, both Deeds and McDonnell need to work on appearing more human and easier to relate to, at least in their Tweets."
Analyze Words takes a Twitter user’s most recent updates and runs them through a psychological and linguistic analysis program created by Pennebaker and other social psychologists, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. The output looks at how emotional and social a user is, as well as what type of thinking style they employ when Tweeting.
"I know McDonnell has taken a pretty serious lead in the polls, but Deeds has a chance at least in the Analyze Words comparison to become more upbeat and personable-- all it would take are a few more positive, social Tweets, and maybe Deeds could taste some sort of victory," Pennebaker said.
Full analyses of each candidate can be found at http://analyzewords.com/?handle=bobmcdonnell for McDonnell and http://analyzewords.com/?handle=CreighDeeds for deeds. Analyze Words can be used for any Twitter user who Tweets fairly regularly and has an open access account. Please note this press release's Twitter analysis was for Tweets done until 3:40PM EST November 2, 2009.
Analyze Words was started by Pennebaker; Chris Wilson, a journalist in Washington, DC; Roger Booth, an associate professor of immunology at the University of Auckland; and Teal Pennebaker, a communications officer in California.
@AnalyzeWords The recent showdown has made @stephenfry quite angry (70th %ile!) and worried (76th %ile!) http://bit.ly/1qksuKabout 10 hours ago from web
PRESS RELEASE
Sunday November 1, 2009
In NJ gov race, Corzine pulls ahead in ‘upbeat’ dimension with Christie ranking higher in anxiety, arrogance</p>
While polls show virtual tie, new psychological analysis of each candidate’s Tweets reveal stark differences
New York, NY- With just two days until the November election, a new Analyze Words comparison of New Jersey gubernatorial candidates’ Tweets show widening social, emotional and thinking style differences between Gov. Jon Corzine (D) and Chris Christie (R).
Gov. Corzine ranks highest in the upbeat category—81% to Christie’s rating of 64%—and very low (15%) in the “worried” dimension compared to Christie’s average (44%) amount of anxiety. The Republican challenger, meanwhile, barely edged out Corzine in sociability-- with the challenger getting a 65% "plugged in" rating to Cozine's 64%. After "plugged in," Christie's ranks highest in "sensory" (61% to Corzine's 43%) and "arrogant" (57% to Corzine's 56%).
“Our analysis of the two candidates’ Tweets reveal how differently they’re choosing to relate to voters,” University of Texas Professor of Psychology and www.analyzewords.com co-founder James Pennebaker said. “Here Corzine has been accused of highly negative campaigning, but his Tweets shows a very upbeat and not angry—28th percentile—candidate. Even as the polls show a neck-and-neck race, Christie comes across as more anxious and distant.”
Analyze Words takes a Twitter user’s most recent updates and runs them through a psychological and linguistic analysis program created by Pennebaker and other social psychologists, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. The output looks at how emotional and social a user is, as well as what type of thinking style they employ when Tweeting.
Both candidates are remarkably low in the “personable” category (Corzine 16%, Christie 19%) and in the "analytic thinking style" (Corzine 16%, Christie 18%).
“If I were Christie’s adviser, I’d have him up his positivity and warmth, especially given the accusations that he doesn’t relate to women voters,” Pennebaker said. “Meanwhile Corzine could more fully ditch this belief that he’s on the attack if he concentrates on being more personable.”
Full analyses of each candidate can be found at http://analyzewords.com/?handle=JonCorzine for Corzine and http://analyzewords.com/?handle=ChristieforNJ for Christie. Analyze Words can be used for any Twitter user who Tweets fairly regularly and has an open access account. Please note-- these analyses are as of 9:30pm EST November 1, 2009.
Analyze Words was started by Pennebaker; Chris Wilson, a journalist in Washington, DC; Roger Booth, an associate professor of immunology at the University of Auckland; and Teal Pennebaker, a communications officer in California.