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It would be reassuring to think that the electorate choose who to vote for based on the candidates’ track records and future policy promises. In truth , many of us are swayed simply by the way that politicians look. Consider a 2009 study that asked Swiss students to look at multiple pairs of unfamiliar French political candidates and in each case to select the one who looked most competent. Most of the time, the candidate selected by students as looking the most competent was also the one who’d had real life electoral success, the implication being that voters too had been swayed by the candidates’ appearance (there’s little evidence that appearance and competence actually correlate ). Unsurprisingly, being attractive also helps win votes, especially in war time (in peace time, looking trustworthy is more of an advantage). Other research has shown that we’re more likely to vote for male and female candidates with deeper voices.