№ 2 - 2000
Durdin D.M.
The “Image” of a Political Leader and Possibilities of Changing It

The article presents the results of a research undertaken to investigate the perception of political leaders’ images by Russian electors, to expose these images’ substantial content and mutual disposition in psychological coordinates, and to explore the possibility, as well as the limits of possible manipulation of the electorate’s attitude to political actors with the help of visual means. The research was carried out through and on the basis of a poll organized in 1998 in Moscow, Omsk and Rostov-on-Don. Analysis of the data obtained, revealed (a) multidimensionality of the Russian electorate’s perception of politicians, and (b) clear-cut differentiation of their images by the indicators of dynamism and emotional faith, as well as (c) the decisive role of the latter factor in the appraisal of a politician. The research has shown that manipulative technologies, while being apt to considerably modify the already formed image of a politician, do not, however, create new images, but only adjust the old ones.