2. The business of charisma

The Character of Charisma

2. The business of charisma

4. Charisma at a distance

President John F. Kennedy flashing his trademark smile at a news conference, Nov. 20, 1962. Want to hear his "ask not what your country can do for you" speech? (168 kb mp3 file).

Photo: John F. Kennedy Library and Museum

Senator John Edwards, senior senator from North Carolina, and expected Democratic VP candidate. Photo: Brownie Harris, Sen. John Edwards.

August 23, 1984: Pres. Ronald Reagan accepts the nomination at the Republican National Convention, in Dallas. Want to hear excerpts from Reagan's reaction to the Challenger disaster? (132 kb MP3 file). Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation

Can charisma be measured? Yes, says psychology professor Howard Friedman, editor of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. Charisma, he says, can "be measured through an examination of nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures and body movements. For example, charismatic people smile naturally, with wrinkling around the eyes" and often touch friends during conversations.

Friedman, who developed the Affective Communication Test, used by some firms to measure employee charisma, wrote us to say the test identifies those who "are generally popular (even if they are shy) and influential, because of their ability to transmit emotions through nonverbal cues."

Friedman says the charisma of Sen. John Edwards probably reflects a combination of innate personality and experience. "It is likely that John Edwards early on had both an extroverted personality and an ability to understand the emotional reactions of others. These skills were then finely honed in the courtroom, where it is very important to be able to emotionally arouse the jury and know when you are being successful... Edwards is very uninhibited and not at all fake-looking in his emotional communications."

If you're missing the message, Friedman offers a contrast. "Inscrutable people are the opposite pole and are the least charismatic."

Look at him!
Close up of man in suit smiling at camera Sen. John Edwards also benefits from something that's harder to measure: good looks. In fact, some onlookers describe him as such a looker that they wonder if he's too good-looking for his own good.

Movie-star looks, some feel, are reserved for lightweights.

Perhaps, but physical attractiveness is a definite component of charisma, says Jodi Deluca, a clinical psychologist formerly with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who is now in private practice in Tampa, Fla.

Courtroom studies show that appearance, along with other elements of charisma, help us make judgments, Deluca argues. If a defendant "is esthetically pleasing and comports in a very self-confident manner, is very articulate, even if they are guilty, the jury will usually vote in their favor if the opposite party is less charismatic, less pleasing" in appearance.

Man speaking in front of large crowd waving flags and signs And while Edwards is an office-seeker, not a defendant, Deluca says he still benefits from being "very self-confident, very articulate, and aggressive, but in an assertive way" that attracts, not repels, audiences.

All these attributes make Edwards a smart choice for wanna-be veep, she says. "Kerry has made a very good decision. If anything wins him this election, it will be Edwards."

Choosing presidents based on a superficial trait like physical appearance may not fit the idealistic model of rational politics , but Deluca says it's "basic human nature to be influenced by the overall affect, the behavior, the physical aspects of the whole individual."

Do words matter?

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