Dr. A.W.M. (Willem) KoetsenruijterLeiden University, the Netherlands

Dept. Journalism & New Media

koets@wxs.nl

THE RHETORIC OF POWERIN IMAGES

OF WORLD LEADERS

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Image management

… carefully composed and chosen to communicate specific ideas about leadership and power

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Hofstede’s theory on cultural values

Four dimensions

- individualism – collectivism

- uncertainty avoidance

- power distance

- masculinity – femininity

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GENERAL Outline

RESEARCH QUESTION

By what Rhetorical Means is Power established in Media Portraits of Political Leaders?

THEORY

Power Distance (Hofstede), Social Distance Theory (Hall, Bogardus), Semiotics (Kress & Van Leeuwen), Rhetoric.

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Social Distance

“the lack of availability and relational openness – of variable intensity – of a subject

in regard to others, perceived and acknowledged as different on the basis

of their inclusion in a social category.

It is the result of the dynamic interaction of factors situated on three different

dimensions of space: physical, symbolic and geometrical.

(Cesareo, 2007, p11)

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SIX Variables

NoC: Nature of Candidate

PoV: Point of View

FEx: Facial Expression

ImA: Image Act

INt: Interaction

PDi: Physical Distance

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Nature of candidate

1. Family type

2. Outdoor type

3. Father- mother type

4. Glad to see you

5. Relaxed leader

6. Dynamic Speaker

7. Media star

8. Stressed leader

9. Promised leader

PSD small

PSD big

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Family type: social distance = low

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Outdoor type

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Father / mother type

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Glad to C you

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Relaxed leader

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Dynamical Speaker: social distance = higher

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Media Star

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Stressed leader

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NATURE OF CANDIDate

Promised leader: social distance = high

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POINT OF VIEW

1. Camera equals point of view

2. Camera higher than point of view

3. Camera lower than point of view

PSD small

PSD big

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POINT OF VIEW: Equal, social distance = low

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POINT OF VIEW: High: social distance high

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POINT OF VIEW: Low: social distance high

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PHYSICAL DISTANCE

1. Intimate

2. Close personal

3. Far personal

4. Close social

5. Far social

6. Public

PSD small

PSD big21

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DISTANCE: intimate, social distance = low

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DISTANCE: close personal, social distance = low

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DISTANCE: far personal

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DISTANCE: close social

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DISTANCE: far social

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DISTANCE: public, social distance = high

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POINT OF VIEW

1. Camera equals point of view

2. Camera higher than point of view

3. Camera lower than point of view

Value perceived social distance (PSD) = 1 / (n of possible values) = 0,33

1 = 0,33

2 = 0,66

3 = 0,99

PSD small

PSD big

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PHYSICAL DISTANCE

1. Intimate

2. Close personal

3. Far personal

4. Close social

5. Far social

6. Public

Value perceived physical distance (PPD) = 1 / (n of possible values) = 0,167

1 = 0,167 4 = 0,67

2 = 0,33 5 = 0,85

3 = 0,83 6 = 0,99

PSD small

PSD big

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SIX Variables

The six variables form a compound scale to measure Perceived Social Distance (PSD):

(NOC + POV + INT + DIST + FAC + IMA) = PSD

Scale’s homogenity Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.65.

Inter coder reliability on the separate variables Krippendorff’s alpha >0.8

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Hypotheses

H1: The use of rhetorical means can be explained from a model based on

increasing or decreasing Social Distance.

H2: Social Distance is closely connected to Power Distance.

H3: Photographs show a difference in Social Distance in photographs from

leaders from a High Power Distance Country and a Low Power Distance Country. 32

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Google Images as a Collection stereotypes

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Google Images as a Collection stereotypes

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600 photographs

Content analysis on a random sample from 600 Google Images

300 x Obama and

300 x Khadaffi

United States = Low Power Distance country, Hofstede’s index .40

Libya = High Power Distance Country, Hofstede’s index .80

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RESULTS

Mean difference Obama vs Khadaffi

Nature of Candidate 2,9*

Point of View 0,3*

Facial Expression 1,4*

Image Act 1,6*

Interaction 0,7*

Psysical distance 0,6*

*Sig t = < .01

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RESULTS

The compound scale:

Obama = PSD = 2,5

Khadaffi = PSD = 3,7**(t = 24,7 / p <.001; r = .86)

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results

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H1: The use of rhetorical means can be explained from a model based on

increasing or decreasing Social Distance. -> Confirmed! All differences on the scale were significant and pointed in the same direction.

H2: Social Distance is closely connected to Power Distance.

-> Confirmed! High power distance is connected with high social distance. H3: Photographs show a difference in Social Distance in photographs from

leaders from a High Power Distance Country and a Low Power Distance Country. -> Confirmed! Pictures from US President Obama scored significantly lower in social distance than pictures from the Libyan leader Khadaffi.

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Discussion

- How good a sample is Google Images? Can the research be replicated with other photo data banks? (Getty, Press Photo agencies, etc.)

- Can we replicate this research with photographs from photographers from specific low and high power distance countries? (search أوباما, Обаму, or オバマ )

- Can we replicate this research with other leaders. (Obama and Khadaffi were extremes.)

- Can the scale be used as a predictive tool? Can we produce photographs with a predicted social distance?

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QUESTIONS?

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