Sex and Race: Are Black Candidates More Likely to be Disadvantaged by Sex Scandals?

Abstract

A growing body of work suggests that exposure to subtle racial cues prompts white voters to penalize black candidates, and that the effects of these cues may influence outcomes indirectly via perceptions of candidate ideology. We test hypotheses related to these ideas using two experiments based on national samples. In one experiment, we manipulated the race of a candidate (Barack Obama vs. John Edwards) accused of sexual impropriety. We found that while both candidates suffered from the accusation, the scandal led respondents to view Obama as more liberal than Edwards, especially among resentful and engaged whites. Second, overall evaluations of Obama declined more sharply than for Edwards. In the other experiment, we manipulated the explicitness of the scandal, and found that implicit cues were more damaging for Obama than explicit ones.

Corruption and Sexual Scandal: The Importance of Politician Gender

“…Given the potential for political scandals to destabilize the status quo, the topic of political scandals has received attention from numerous scholars in psychology, political sciences, journalism or law. Regardless of the scientific disciplines, most studies focus on one type of scandal, mainly corruption or sexual (Cepernich, 2008;Maier, 2011;Puglisi & Snyder, 2011;Wiid, Pitt, & Engstrom, 2011) and on male politicians in established democracies (Berinsky et al, 2010;Kumlin & Esaiasson, 2012;Maier, 2011;Vivyan, Wagner, & Tarlov, 2012). In this research, we focus on how reactions to politicians involved in scandals might differ as a function of the type of scandal and the gender of the politician while also considering factors that may be responsible for influencing electability.…”

Skin in the Game: Voter Preference on the Subject of Bi-Racial Candidate Skin-Tone

“…A mix of findings in research concerning race and political elections may indicate the effect on a candidate's race may be subtle (Berinsky, Hutchings, Mendelberg, Shaker, & Valentino, 2011). Unraveling the causes of this influential bias is a worthy intellectual pursuit.…”

“…This model suggests the implicit associations are not between evil and dark colors, but rather evil and dark skin (Arendt, 2013;Berinsky et al, 2011;Correll, Cloutier, & Mellinger, 2016;Deska et al, 2016;Freeman & Johnson, 2016;Hutchings & Valentino, 2004;Leyens & Yzerbyt, 1992;Gilliam & Iyenger, 2000;Mendelberg, 2008;Reynolds & Subasic, associations can influence decision making, and even though explicitly racist attitudes have seen a decline through the influence of social desirability (Berinsky et al, 2011;Mendelberg, 2008;Valentino et al, 2002), there are still implicit racial attitudes present that people begin acquiring in childhood (Hutchings & Valentino, 2004). Berinsky et al (2011) suggest that racial cues are most powerful when they are implicit and avoid the perception of racism.…”

“…Instead, they have become more subtle, possibly imperceptible to the person holding the bias (Mendelberg, 2008 (Arendt, 2013;Berinsky et al, 2011). In a study, which primed participants by flashing the word "white" or "black" on a screen, the participants were able to identify negative stereotypical words faster after seeing the word "black," and positive stereotypical words faster after seeing the word "white" (Mendelberg, 2008).…”

“…This implicit association with Blacks and crime is evident in Mendedberg (2008), where participants identified innocuous items as weapons more often when the person holding the object was AfricanAmerican, and identified weapons as innocuous items more often when the person holding the object was Caucasian. These damaging stereotypical associations can surface in an election, such as the link between terms like "sexually promiscuous" and "too liberal" with Black candidates (Berinsky et al, 2011). Valentino et al (2002) contend that "Implicit racial priming is inherently manipulative, as it encourages voters to evaluate candidates based on criteria they would likely ignore if they were aware of the intent of the appeal" (p.77).…”