Tim Walz has BDE (no, not that one). The psychology behind ‘big dad energy.’

Earlier this month, Vice President Kamala Harris called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and invited him to be her running mate. Walz — who, according to a video shared by the campaign, took the call while wearing a camo hat (cue copycat merch), black T-shirt, khakis and white running shoes that, well, some might describe as “dad sneakers” — happily accepted. An announcement was made ... and then came the jokes.

“Tim Walz is so dad coded he is going to New balance the budget.”

“Tim Walz says ‘uh oh, here comes trouble’ when he sees another dad he knows.”

“When walz has to run back inside to grab his keys he definitely says ‘wouldn’t have made it far without those.’”

And then there are the headlines. “Masculinity’s check-engine light is on. Let Tim Walz have a look,” reads one Washington Post column, which notes that the memes about Walz “feel more like biography than caricature.” According to the Atlantic, “Dad is on the ballot.” The outlet writes that Walz “exudes a familiar, affable energy — the kind that suggests the governor could easily teach you how to change a tire or hang some shelves in your family room. Walz is, in other words, extremely dad-coded.” The New York Times, meanwhile, has marveled at “the political appeal of the aggressively normal dad.”

In the words of one supporter, and Vanity Fair, the 60-year-old Walz has “big dad energy.” It makes sense — he is, after all, a dad. The first word in his official X bio is “Dad.” And based on footage that shows him ribbing 23-year-old daughter Hope about being a vegetarian, or playing the role of a bumbling boomer in a PSA about hands-free driving, he is partial to a dad joke.

But many politicians — including the two Walz and Harris are running against — are dads. What is it about Walz in particular that has so many people, whether they plan to vote for him in November or not, fixating on his fatherly vibes? What does it say about him — and us?

Understanding archetypes

“The human brain is lazy and uses all kinds of shortcuts, metaphors and archetypes to categorize and quickly process information,” media psychologist Pamela Rutledge tells Yahoo Life. Archetypes can help voters make sense of, and connect with, a candidate: “the everyman,” “the statesman,” “the underdog,” “the maverick” and so on. Those archetypes have cultural meaning, and we make judgments about someone presenting that image based on our experiences and perceptions.

Drew Westen, professor emeritus in the department of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University and author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation, cites Sigmund Freud’s findings on transference, aka people’s tendency to unconsciously project qualities or feelings onto someone else. “You would expect most political figures to draw some kind of transferences,” Westen says, and a lot of this might be informed by their particular archetype. We might see them as a friend we’d want to grab a beer with, or the stern teacher we rebelled against, or, in Walz’s case, a father figure.

But “just because someone has kids doesn’t mean they will assume a dad archetype,” Rutledge notes.

Why is Walz so dad-coded?

Westen sees Walz’s “big dad energy” as an organic part of his personality rather than a calculated political move (though that’s not to say it won’t become central to the Harris-Walz campaign’s messaging in an attempt to appeal to voters). His background as a Midwesterner, a former teacher and coach, and, yes, an actual dad who speaks at length about his two children all come into play. Adds Westen: “That quality of speaking to you like an ordinary person makes him much more relatable, and that makes him much more dadlike.” (While not necessarily dad-coded, former President Ronald Reagan had a similar approachability, according to Westen.)

Walz “exudes the father archetype in a Howard Cunningham [the Happy Days patriarch] or Ted Lasso kind of way,” says Rutledge. “A father archetype brings authority, wisdom and order, and Walz benefits from our collective yearning of the good father.”

But Walz is not your dad

Amid the “big dad energy” discourse, it’s good to recognize that at the end of the day, we are collectively projecting these qualities and intimacies onto politicians we don’t really know. Treating Walz — or any candidate — like the parent you never had is an example of a parasocial relationship, Rutledge says.

“Parasocial relationships are one-sided relationships where a person has a strong sense of connection, intimacy or familiarity with a celebrity or, in this case, politician,” she explains. “Media creates many circumstances that feel like face-to-face contact, over time increasing the feeling that a voter ‘knows’ the politician. Although it is a one-sided relationship, voters will begin to feel like the politician knows and understands them. We see this in the way [former President Donald] Trump’s followers talk about Trump, benefiting from years of media exposure.”

There are undeniable benefits to being viewed as a wholesome dad straight out of a sitcom. That perceived warmth and accessibility, Rutledge says, can help drive parasocial relationships. It’s also humanizing, especially in an era in which politics have become divisive.

But not everyone might see those dad vibes as a strength. A lot of this can also depend on the parenting style we grew up with, Westen says. Late psychologist Diana Baumrind determined that there were three parenting styles: authoritarian (strict, possibly abusive, demands obedience); permissive (hands-off, wants to be friends with their kids rather than enforce rules); and authoritative (rules-based but also reasonable — the style Walz is associated with). There’s a large body of research, Westen adds, that suggests how you were raised determines what sort of qualities you might seek out in a leader. Those raised by a controlling parent might, for example, gravitate toward someone they see as having an authoritarian leadership style — someone who rules with an iron fist rather than, say, taking away the keys to the car.

Ultimately, experts say, people will be voting for who they think the best leader is — not the best dad. But if you need your tire pressure checked ... we know a guy.

This article was originally published on Aug. 13, 2024 and has been updated.