The Sex Gap in Political Persuading: Where the "Structuring Principle" Works

Sex differences in political communication during presidential campaigns

“…Welch (1977) found that men showed higher levels of participation than women did in trying to influence others. Rapoport(1981) found further that among adolescent respondents, males expressed a significantly higher number of political attitudes and political beliefs. The author also found that there was a statistically significant relationship between the number of attitudes expressed and the number of attempts to persuade others.…”

“…Other scholars argue that male and female stereotypes in voter turnout have disappeared (Conway, 1985) and that the gap in political participation has generally narrowed (Rapoport, 1981). Such findings suggest that the level of political discussion should be similar between men and women.…”

“…However, as more and more women participate fully in organizational life outside of their home, the gap between men and women is narrowing in terms of political participation (McCain & Koch, 1984). Other studies though, have demonstrated that traditional sexual differences in employment still do exist (Bennett & Bennett, 1989;Rapoport, 1981).…”

Sources ofaccessandcompetencein women's political persuading, 1964–1984

“…At its most fundamental, political persuading consists of an individual talking to others with the intention of motivating them to engage in political activity that supports the persuader's point of view (Rapoport, 1981). Political persuading is more specific than generic concepts of political discussion during campaigns, and differs from casual discussions of politics, persuasive or non-persuasive, that occur outside of the electoral context (Rapoport, 1981).…”

“…Political persuading is more specific than generic concepts of political discussion during campaigns, and differs from casual discussions of politics, persuasive or non-persuasive, that occur outside of the electoral context (Rapoport, 1981). In political persuading, any one of several kinds of persuasive ends may be sought by those initiating the dialogue: trying to get someone to change their mind, reinforcing or supporting their decision to take a position, or suggesting a new position or point of view.…”