A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns

Ditonto, Tessa

doi:10.1007/s11109-016-9357-5

A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns

Ditonto, Tessa

Authors

Dr Tessa Ditonto tessa.m.ditonto@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

This study seeks to determine whether subjects in two dynamic process tracing experiments react differently to information related to a candidate’s competence when that candidate is a woman, vs. when he is a man. I find that subjects evaluate a candidate whose competence is in doubt less favorably, and are less likely to vote for the candidate, when she is a woman. In general, evaluations of women seem to be influenced much more by information related to their competence than are evaluations of men. I also find that competence as portrayed by the composition of a candidate’s facial features does not alter this relationship. My findings suggest that gender-based stereotypes may have an indirect effect on candidate evaluations and vote choice by influencing how voters react to information about them.

Citation

Ditonto, T. (2017). A High Bar or a Double Standard? Gender, Competence, and Information in Political Campaigns. Political Behavior, 39(2), 301-325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9357-5

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Aug 4, 2016
Publication Date	2017-06
Deposit Date	Dec 5, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Jan 4, 2021
Journal	Political Behavior
Print ISSN	0190-9320
Electronic ISSN	1573-6687
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	39
Issue	2
Pages	301-325
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9357-5

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Copyright Statement
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Political Behaviour. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9357-5.