Do Emergent Leaders Speak Transformational Language: A Study of the Language and Non-Verbal Behavior of Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz Announcement for Candidacy Speeches

Abstract

This study investigated the leadership language found in the initial running for president announcement speeches of Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz. This study with the utilization of quantitative content text analysis software, as well as the objective decoding of the facial expressions of the candidates as measured by the Facial Meaning Sensitivity Test (Lethers & English, 1980) will render a greater understanding of the political process. These findings are more empirically based than relying solely on the qualitative viewpoints of the media. The fundamental purpose of the study was to explore the theoretical impact of leadership verbal and limited non-verbal behavior in the candidates in order to infer meaning to their ability to garner their party’s nomination. Approximately, 400 respondents were asked to participate in this study, by going on to a class website and reviewing the operational definitions and the variables as well as given websites to review the announcement speeches and the running total of the issues under review concerning the two candidates. This investigation compared the different usages of transformational, transactional, passive, economic issues, domestic issues, and self-history communications used by both candidates in what some pundits exhort is the most important speech in the candidates’ campaign.