Assimilation and Contrast of Presidential Candidates' Issue Positions, 1972

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Abstract
Voter assimilation, the tendency to exaggerate the similarity between their favored candidate's position on issues and their own position, and contrast, the tendency to exaggerate the distance between their nonpreferred candidate's position on issues and their own position, were examined in the University of Michigan Center for Political Studies 1972 national election study. Significant assimilation effects were found on all nine issues considered, for both McGovern and Nixon voters, replicating and extending findings for the Vietnam issue in 1968 election data. Contrast effects occurred primarily on issues which polarized the electorate and on which the candidates were viewed as distinct. Assimilation was enhanced both by party identification and by attraction to preferred candidate. These moderators did not uniformly enhance contrast

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