A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns

Ditonto, Tessa

Abstract

This study seeks to determine whether subjects in two dynamic process tracing experiments react differently to information related to a candidate’s competence when that candidate is a woman, vs. when he is a man. I find that subjects evaluate a candidate whose competence is in doubt less favorably, and are less likely to vote for the candidate, when she is a woman. In general, evaluations of women seem to be influenced much more by information related to their competence than are evaluations of men. I also find that competence as portrayed by the composition of a candidate’s facial features does not alter this relationship. My findings suggest that gender-based stereotypes may have an indirect effect on candidate evaluations and vote choice by influencing how voters react to information about them.

Citation

Ditonto, T. (2017). A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns. Political Behavior, 39(2), 301-325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9357-5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Aug 4, 2016
• Publication Date: 2017-06
• Deposit Date: Dec 5, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 4, 2021
• Journal: Political Behavior
• Print ISSN: 0190-9320
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-6687
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 301-325
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9357-5