The Impact of Gender Stereotypes on Voting for Women Candidates by Level and Type of Office

Abstract

Previous research has documented that the public often views women candidates through the lens of gender stereotypes. However, as much of this work draws on experimental designs and hypothetical candidates, we have less information about whether and how voters employ stereotypes in the face of real candidates for office. This project examines one important aspect of the impact of stereotypes on the fate of actual women candidates: whether gender stereotypes have a different influence on elections for different levels and types of offices. Previous research suggests that voters are more likely to apply male stereotypes and evaluate candidates differently as the level of office increases and as we consider executive versus legislative office. The research reported here draws on new data that capture voter attitudes and behaviors in real-world elections to test a series of hypotheses related to when and how gender stereotypes affect candidates for the U.S. Congress and governorships. In general, we find little evidence to support claims that voters stereotype women candidates differently when they seek different kinds of offices.

The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Gubernatorial Campaign Coverage

“…This study seeks to enhance the knowledge of how gender stereotypes interact with media coverage, as recent research suggests that the dynamics of gender stereotypes on the campaign trail are changing. 8,16 While research from the 1990s and early 2000s clearly indicated that gender stereotypes played a role in shaping how women candidates across different levels of office were perceived, 17, 18 more recent studies indicate that the prevalence of gender stereotypes, and their influence on women's electoral fortunes is declining. 8,16 Additionally, Dolan and Lynch find that feminine stereotypes affect women candidates differently, depending on the candidate's partisanship.…”

“…8,16 While research from the 1990s and early 2000s clearly indicated that gender stereotypes played a role in shaping how women candidates across different levels of office were perceived, 17, 18 more recent studies indicate that the prevalence of gender stereotypes, and their influence on women's electoral fortunes is declining. 8,16 Additionally, Dolan and Lynch find that feminine stereotypes affect women candidates differently, depending on the candidate's partisanship. 16 This study focuses on gubernatorial campaigns between 2004 and 2014 to explore the changing media landscape for women running for executive positions.…”

“…8,16 Additionally, Dolan and Lynch find that feminine stereotypes affect women candidates differently, depending on the candidate's partisanship. 16 This study focuses on gubernatorial campaigns between 2004 and 2014 to explore the changing media landscape for women running for executive positions. This time frame is especially interesting, as it spans the apparent shift in how stereotypes affect the evaluations of women candidates, outlined above.…”

The role of gender in online campaigning: Swedish candidates’ motives and use of social media during the European election 2014

“…There remain substantial gender differences in modern democracies pertaining to representation, although women generally perform as well as their male counterparts in similar types of electoral races (Darcy, Welch and Clark, 1994). Recent research has found little evidence to support previous claims that voters employ gender stereotypes when they evaluate women candidates (Dolan and Lynch, 2016). Furthermore, no financial disadvantages appear to constrain women candidates in particular (Hogan, 2007;Werner, 1997).…”

Measuring and Unpacking Affective Polarization on Twitter: The Role of Party and Gender in the 2018 Senate Races

“…Even though progress has been made towards decreasing the gender disparity among public officials at many levels of government [17], it is important to measure, track, and understand how this disparity is changing over time [52]. Specifically, it is important to unpack to what extent the projection of gender stereotypes onto congressional candidates is being perpetuated during national elections [13,16,18,25,26].…”