The 'it' factor
Call it charisma, or charm, or that special something. But even scientists can't resist trying to explain the powerful but elusive trait.
By Janet Cromley
Times Staff Writer
May 29, 2006
DECKED out in her best black pants and rhinestone tank top, dark unruly mane tossed over her shoulders, Janet Gredler sits at one of a dozen intimate tables in a darkened bar and surveys a smorgasbord of eligible males — handsome rogues, cherubic charmers and brainy entrepreneurs.
She and about two dozen men and women are here because they have the confidence and chutzpah to participate in a grueling white-knuckle phenomenon known as "speed dating." If ever there was a Darwin-esque event designed to favor the socially astute, this is it.
The daters are presentable, attractive and engaging. But for all the attention and effort they will put into showcasing their strengths, the one characteristic that will set them apart in these abbreviated meetings is something they've probably never considered. It's charisma.
In interpersonal relationships, politics and business, this mysterious quality often trumps appearance, personality and, sadly, even character.
At no time in history has charisma wielded such a mighty social sword, media experts say. Where once we formed impressions based on lengthy face-to-face contact, books and letters, we now also rely on information fed rapid-fire and piecemeal through iPods, e-mail and sound bites.
"If you're a business leader or an office manager, you've really got to have some measure of charisma to succeed these days," says Jackson Bain, founder and chairman of the Alexandria, Va.-based communications counseling firm Bain and Associates. Bain has been teaching media skills to executives and politicians for more than 20 years. "You have to be able to make a strong first impression very quickly," he says.
Recognizing the need for that elusive "something," business schools are teaching a charismatic leadership style incorporating vision, passion and personal connection to employees; self-improvement gurus and authors are making buckets of cash by promising to transform the shy or lovelorn into dynamic entrepreneurs and fearless Casanovas; and political consultants are routinely tutoring their clients on how to harness it.
Perhaps nowhere is the force of charisma more apparent than in the political arena, where having a boatful of charisma is like holding four aces. In California's gubernatorial campaign, Democrats Steve Westly and Phil Angelides, neither of whom are generally referred to as sizzling, have struggled to identify themselves to an electorate at times bedazzled by the hugely charismatic incumbent, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Despite political stumbles, Schwarzenegger has a virtual reservoir of charisma-power, built over years of exposure in films and public life, says Tracy Westen, chief executive of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. That will stand him in good stead as he faces the winner of the June 6 primary in November.
"It's very hard to drain it," says Westen, also an adjunct professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication. "It's like Cary Grant running for office. A few encounters won't change that reservoir."
And in any given election, he says, about a third of voters will base their vote on a candidate's charisma. "Some voters focus on issues, while some are short-cutters and look to endorsements," Westen says. "Then there's the third group that looks at the personalities or characteristics of the candidate. And those are very much influenced by charisma."
Charisma is not constant. It changes with circumstances, perception and, sometimes, the way it's used. But in today's environment, the spoils often go to whoever can communicate likability, intelligence, competence and leadership — all neatly assembled in one package — the fastest. In short, the most charismatic, be it in a bar or a boardroom.
But even as daters, business leaders and politicians scramble to master it, neuropsychologists and social scientists are still struggling to determine exactly how charisma works.
*
Intangible, but powerful
Charisma, by its nature, is elusive and difficult to study, but most experts agree that it involves a combination of enthusiasm, extroversion and good listening skills.
More specifically, they suggest that charismatic individuals have more variance in the pitch of their speech — that is, their speech pattern goes up and down — they are more likely to smile and initiate physical contact and, consciously or unconsciously, they tend to mimic the body language of their listener.
But there's something else too. Charismatic people appear to tune in to other people to the exclusion of all else, leaving the recipients of all this glorious attention believing that there has been an emotional connection. As a result of the contact, the recipients feel special and consequently good about themselves.
In short, recipients get a quick snort of happy dust. A mood boost.
Few people are completely immune. "Go to one of your colleagues and engage them in conversation," says Bain. "As they are talking, open your eyes just slightly wider, listen with your head slightly tilted, so it really looks like and appears like you are actually listening to them harder, more interestedly, and watch how they go on."
In a groundbreaking study at UC Riverside, published in the winter 1981 issue of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, researchers Howard Friedman and Ronald Riggio identified 27 expressive, or charismatic, people and paired them with non-expressive people. They found that after spending time alone in a room with a charismatic person, the mood of the non-expressive participant more closely matched that of the charismatic person. In other words, the enthusiasm of a charismatic person appeared to be contagious.
Charisma, it seems, is a process — a two-way street. Some researchers say it also may be biological. Jodi De Luca, a neuroscientist and adjunct professor at the University of Tampa, Fla., has studied charisma as a component of human emotion for 15 years.
De Luca believes that the interaction between a charismatic person and the object of his or her attention might involve a chemical detected by the olfactory system. The chemicals could act like pheromones, chemicals more commonly associated with regulating certain sexual behaviors. These chemicals, in essence, could be putting the "animal" in "animal magnetism."
Smell is a very primal sense, De Luca says. "I believe there are people we are drawn to by the unconscious attraction of pheromones and other chemicals."
Georgios Triantis, a communications researcher at the University of Connecticut, believes there's a cortical, or thinking, component and a subcortical, or reptilian, component in how we perceive charisma.
In one of Triantis' studies, he asked 16 subjects to rate 200 speeches and determine whether the speaker was charismatic. He found that most raters could peg a speaker as either charismatic or not within 10 seconds of observing a speech. In other words, there's a basic intellectual recognition of the trait, as well as a visceral, or subcortical, drive to recognize it.
Subcortically, Triantis says, we may be hard-wired to perceive charisma in the same way that we perceive anger. It makes sense for people to be able to read emotions that are critical to them for survival.
For that reason, evolutionary biologists believe that the quality of charisma has probably been around since the first caveman walked out of the cave and said, "Follow me."
It would have taken a charismatic leader, for example, to convince a nomadic group to settle down, to take up new tools, to band against a common enemy.
"Dominance hierarchies are important for the protection of the group in times of danger and for choice of mates," Friedman says. Early leaders, it seems, weren't necessarily the cerebral type.
"If you were living in [medieval times] and every few years a marauding tribe would come through and kill and rape everyone and burn your village," Westen says, "you would tend to look to someone who is big and strong and willing to protect you."
Over time, however, perceptions of charisma changed — as did the types of leaders, and mates, we chose. But the importance of charisma has, if anything, grown.
Call it charisma, or charm, or that special something. But even scientists can't resist trying to explain the powerful but elusive trait.
By Janet Cromley
Times Staff Writer
May 29, 2006
DECKED out in her best black pants and rhinestone tank top, dark unruly mane tossed over her shoulders, Janet Gredler sits at one of a dozen intimate tables in a darkened bar and surveys a smorgasbord of eligible males — handsome rogues, cherubic charmers and brainy entrepreneurs.
She and about two dozen men and women are here because they have the confidence and chutzpah to participate in a grueling white-knuckle phenomenon known as "speed dating." If ever there was a Darwin-esque event designed to favor the socially astute, this is it.
The daters are presentable, attractive and engaging. But for all the attention and effort they will put into showcasing their strengths, the one characteristic that will set them apart in these abbreviated meetings is something they've probably never considered. It's charisma.
In interpersonal relationships, politics and business, this mysterious quality often trumps appearance, personality and, sadly, even character.
At no time in history has charisma wielded such a mighty social sword, media experts say. Where once we formed impressions based on lengthy face-to-face contact, books and letters, we now also rely on information fed rapid-fire and piecemeal through iPods, e-mail and sound bites.
"If you're a business leader or an office manager, you've really got to have some measure of charisma to succeed these days," says Jackson Bain, founder and chairman of the Alexandria, Va.-based communications counseling firm Bain and Associates. Bain has been teaching media skills to executives and politicians for more than 20 years. "You have to be able to make a strong first impression very quickly," he says.
Recognizing the need for that elusive "something," business schools are teaching a charismatic leadership style incorporating vision, passion and personal connection to employees; self-improvement gurus and authors are making buckets of cash by promising to transform the shy or lovelorn into dynamic entrepreneurs and fearless Casanovas; and political consultants are routinely tutoring their clients on how to harness it.
Perhaps nowhere is the force of charisma more apparent than in the political arena, where having a boatful of charisma is like holding four aces. In California's gubernatorial campaign, Democrats Steve Westly and Phil Angelides, neither of whom are generally referred to as sizzling, have struggled to identify themselves to an electorate at times bedazzled by the hugely charismatic incumbent, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Despite political stumbles, Schwarzenegger has a virtual reservoir of charisma-power, built over years of exposure in films and public life, says Tracy Westen, chief executive of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. That will stand him in good stead as he faces the winner of the June 6 primary in November.
"It's very hard to drain it," says Westen, also an adjunct professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication. "It's like Cary Grant running for office. A few encounters won't change that reservoir."
And in any given election, he says, about a third of voters will base their vote on a candidate's charisma. "Some voters focus on issues, while some are short-cutters and look to endorsements," Westen says. "Then there's the third group that looks at the personalities or characteristics of the candidate. And those are very much influenced by charisma."
Charisma is not constant. It changes with circumstances, perception and, sometimes, the way it's used. But in today's environment, the spoils often go to whoever can communicate likability, intelligence, competence and leadership — all neatly assembled in one package — the fastest. In short, the most charismatic, be it in a bar or a boardroom.
But even as daters, business leaders and politicians scramble to master it, neuropsychologists and social scientists are still struggling to determine exactly how charisma works.
*
Intangible, but powerful
Charisma, by its nature, is elusive and difficult to study, but most experts agree that it involves a combination of enthusiasm, extroversion and good listening skills.
More specifically, they suggest that charismatic individuals have more variance in the pitch of their speech — that is, their speech pattern goes up and down — they are more likely to smile and initiate physical contact and, consciously or unconsciously, they tend to mimic the body language of their listener.
But there's something else too. Charismatic people appear to tune in to other people to the exclusion of all else, leaving the recipients of all this glorious attention believing that there has been an emotional connection. As a result of the contact, the recipients feel special and consequently good about themselves.
In short, recipients get a quick snort of happy dust. A mood boost.
Few people are completely immune. "Go to one of your colleagues and engage them in conversation," says Bain. "As they are talking, open your eyes just slightly wider, listen with your head slightly tilted, so it really looks like and appears like you are actually listening to them harder, more interestedly, and watch how they go on."
In a groundbreaking study at UC Riverside, published in the winter 1981 issue of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, researchers Howard Friedman and Ronald Riggio identified 27 expressive, or charismatic, people and paired them with non-expressive people. They found that after spending time alone in a room with a charismatic person, the mood of the non-expressive participant more closely matched that of the charismatic person. In other words, the enthusiasm of a charismatic person appeared to be contagious.
Charisma, it seems, is a process — a two-way street. Some researchers say it also may be biological. Jodi De Luca, a neuroscientist and adjunct professor at the University of Tampa, Fla., has studied charisma as a component of human emotion for 15 years.
De Luca believes that the interaction between a charismatic person and the object of his or her attention might involve a chemical detected by the olfactory system. The chemicals could act like pheromones, chemicals more commonly associated with regulating certain sexual behaviors. These chemicals, in essence, could be putting the "animal" in "animal magnetism."
Smell is a very primal sense, De Luca says. "I believe there are people we are drawn to by the unconscious attraction of pheromones and other chemicals."
Georgios Triantis, a communications researcher at the University of Connecticut, believes there's a cortical, or thinking, component and a subcortical, or reptilian, component in how we perceive charisma.
In one of Triantis' studies, he asked 16 subjects to rate 200 speeches and determine whether the speaker was charismatic. He found that most raters could peg a speaker as either charismatic or not within 10 seconds of observing a speech. In other words, there's a basic intellectual recognition of the trait, as well as a visceral, or subcortical, drive to recognize it.
Subcortically, Triantis says, we may be hard-wired to perceive charisma in the same way that we perceive anger. It makes sense for people to be able to read emotions that are critical to them for survival.
For that reason, evolutionary biologists believe that the quality of charisma has probably been around since the first caveman walked out of the cave and said, "Follow me."
It would have taken a charismatic leader, for example, to convince a nomadic group to settle down, to take up new tools, to band against a common enemy.
"Dominance hierarchies are important for the protection of the group in times of danger and for choice of mates," Friedman says. Early leaders, it seems, weren't necessarily the cerebral type.
"If you were living in [medieval times] and every few years a marauding tribe would come through and kill and rape everyone and burn your village," Westen says, "you would tend to look to someone who is big and strong and willing to protect you."
Over time, however, perceptions of charisma changed — as did the types of leaders, and mates, we chose. But the importance of charisma has, if anything, grown.