Recent studies show a clear link between women in government and reduced concerns about corruption. Until now, it remains unclear which underlying attitudes about women explain the perception that they will reduce corruption. Using a survey question about adding women to a police force, with an embedded experimental treatment, we examine three distinct stereotypes that might explain the power of women to reduce concerns about corruption: gender stereotypes of women as more ethical and honest, the perception of women as political outsiders, and beliefs that women are generally more risk averse. We find that people do perceive women as more effective at combating corruption, and these perceptions are greatly enhanced when information about women's outsider status and risk aversion is provided.
| I NRO DUC TIO NPerceptions of police forces as corrupt challenge the legitimacy of policing authorities (Tankebe, 2010). When citizens do not trust the police, compliance with the law declines (Tankebe, 2013), the police prove less effective at fighting crime (Tyler, 2004), and people are less likely to seek assistance when victimized (particularly women who have been the victims of domestic or sexual violence; UN Women, 2011). Some countries have begun increasing the number of women police to reduce corruption and restore the image of police as legitimate. Examples of such policies are found in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Nicaragua, (Chêne, 2010;Karim, 2011;UN Women, 2011), 1 but why would increasing the number of women in the police reduce concerns about corruption? We argue that there are three potential factors that might account for people's perceptions that women are more effective at combating corruption: gender stereotypes that women are more ethical and honest, perceptions of women officers as outsiders, and perceptions of women as more risk averse than men (Barnes & Beaulieu, 2014. Following recent research on stereotype activation (e.g., Bauer, 2015), we employ an experiment embedded in an Internet survey of over 1,000 individuals to see which gender stereotype, when activated, leads people to believe that adding women to a police force is an effective means of combating corruption. Although this article focuses on policies aimed at restoring trust in the police, our research has broader implications as well, both for the role of women in public service and for understanding various means by which governments can work to improve trust in their institutions.
| TRU S T IN TH E POL ICE AND PERCE PTIO NS O F CO RRU PTIO NPolice in many countries today face an image problem. Although recent media attention in the United States has focused on excessive use of police force, examples of police corruption also abound. In a recent high-profile case, three New York City police commanders were arrested for trading police services for lavish gifts (Rashbaum & Goldstein, 2016). Although they were acquitted, six Philadelphia police officers were charged by federal prosecutors for stealing nearly $400,000 during illegal ...