Voter Reasoning Bias When Evaluating Statements from Female and Male Political Candidates

Abstract

The article examines whether female political candidates are disfavored in terms of persuasiveness potential based on their expertise and trustworthiness. Using a Bayesian argumentation paradigm in which candidates endorse policies, this study shows that male voters regard female candidates as less persuasive than male candidates. A controlled between-subjects experiment among 202 potential voters in the United States suggests that female election candidates are subject to sex biases in two central ways. First, despite agreeing on their trustworthiness and expertise, male voters find highly credible female candidates less persuasive than identical male candidates. Second, female candidates are affected more adversely if they are perceived as lacking in trustworthiness. Male candidates, on the other hand, are affected more negatively if they are perceived as lacking in expertise. Whereas perceived lack of expertise is relatively easy to repair, trustworthiness may be difficult to regain once it is lost. In a political environment in which attack ads are prevalent, this may carry a greater negative impact for female candidates.

Gender and Support for Undemocratic Politicians

“…The results did not change when the candidates that we presented in our hypothetical scenarios were women or men, the punishment of transgressing all democratic norms were broadly similar. This is surprising considering the body of literature that finds that women political leaders are considered to hold different values (Dolan, 2004(Dolan, , 2014Barnes and Beaulieu, 2014;Lucciola, 2023) and receive more severe penalties for unethical behavior (Madsen, 2019). When it comes to the rather severe violations under scrutiny here, it does not seem like gender plays a role in the evaluations.…”

“…The reason for this harsher evaluation is due to the violation of both the norm and the preconceived stereotypical view of women's expected behaviour. An experiment conducted by Madsen (2019) demonstrates that women candidates perceived as more untrustworthy face a larger adverse impact in evaluations when compared to men counterparts with an identical candidate profile. Instead, men candidates are only seen negatively if they are seen as lacking in expertise.…”

Gender and support for undemocratic politicians

“…The reason for this harsher evaluation is due to the violation of both the norm and the preconceived stereotypical view of women's expected behavior. An experiment conducted by Madsen (2019) demonstrates that women candidate profiles that were intentionally crafted to be perceived as untrustworthy face a larger adverse impact in evaluations when compared to the men counterparts with an identical untrustworthy candidate profile. Instead, men candidates are only seen negatively if they are seen as lacking in expertise.…”

Gender and policy persuasion

“…Previous research reveals the many ways female politicians face gendered campaign and legislative environments that may render them less persuasive to various audiences. Citizens may view women as less influential and less competent than men even when they hold objectively similar or even higher qualifications (Mendelberg et al , 2014; Madsen, 2019; Bauer, 2020). Female politicians may also have a more difficult time establishing credibility as policy experts in the first place (Ditonto et al , 2014).…”