# Prof. Adam Alter on the impact of candidates' names in elections

1 Faculty News June 12, 2014 ![New York Magazine logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_035440.gif?itok=tfYuio90)>

Excerpt from [New York Magazine](http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/06/will-dave-brats-weird-name-cost-him-votes.html) -- "As [Adam Alter](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/adam-alter), a psychologist at NYU who has studied name effects, explained in an email, 'When people aren’t sure what the candidates believe, they’re often swayed by irrelevant information, like the candidates’ names.'"

[Read more](http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/06/will-dave-brats-weird-name-cost-him-votes.html)