The psychological focus of white house press secretaries during scandal: A case study of the Obama and Trump administrations

Abstract

This case study investigated how the language of White House press secretaries is modified by periods of scandal and by administration goals. We evaluated two administrations and their associated scandals: The Benghazi attack from the Obama administration and Russian election interference from the Trump administration. Results suggested the psychological and emotional focus of press secretaries changed during scandal compared to before scandal. That is, press secretaries had a more negative tone during each scandal compared to before each scandal. Contrary to prior evidence, time after scandal was not associated with a reduction in self-focus, and press secretary language patterns were largely not moderated by administration (nor their goals). Therefore, language patterns of press secretaries reveal their psychological and emotional processing during a scandal using naturally occurring and in-the-moment text data.

Keywords

• scandal
• language
• press secretaries
• political communication