Monica C. Schneider

A Social Role Theory Perspective on Gender Gaps in Political Attitudes

Men and women tend to espouse different political attitudes, as widely noted by both journalists and social scientists. A deeper understanding of why and when gender gaps exist is necessary because at least some gender differences in the political realm are both pervasive and impactful. In this article, we apply a social role theory framework to understanding gender gaps in political attitudes. The core principles are that mens and womens political attitudes diverge because of diffuse gender roles (e.g., broad expectations based on sex) as well as differential specific roles (e.g., family and occupational roles). We delineate several mechanisms by which diffuse and specific roles would produce differences and similarities in political attitudes. In particular, our analysis examines (a) the influence of gender-stereotypic expectations, (b) internalized traits and goals, and (c) variations in status and resources. A range of evidence shows that the general shape of gender differences in political attitudes aligns with the social roles of men and women, particularly with regard to elements that associate agency and higher status with men and communion and lower status with women. Additionally, we consider intersections among diffuse gender roles and specific roles, following the general principle that gender gaps in political attitudes emerge especially when both diffuse gender roles and specific roles emphasize agency for men and communion for women. The consideration of a social role perspective offers opportunities not only to integrate existing data about gender gaps in political attitudes but also to highlight directions for new research.

A Change Will Do Us Good: Threats Diminish Typical Preferences for Male Leaders

The current research explores role congruity processes from a new vantage point by investigating how the need for change might shift gender-based leadership preferences. According to role congruity theory, favorability toward leaders results from alignment between what is desired in a leadership role and the characteristics stereotypically ascribed to the leader. Generally speaking, these processes lead to baseline preferences for male over female leaders. In this research, the authors propose that a shift in gender-based leadership preferences will emerge under conditions of threat. Because the psychological experience of threat signals a need for change, individuals will favor candidates who represent new directions in leadership rather than consistency with past directions in leadership. Specifically, they find that threat evokes an implicit preference for change over stability (Experiment 1) and gender stereotypes align women with change but men with stability (Experiments 2a and 2b). Consequently, the typical preference for male leaders is diminished, or even reversed, under threat (Experiments 3 and 4). Moreover, the shift away from typical gender-based leadership preferences occurs especially among individuals who highly legitimize the sociopolitical system (Experiment 4), suggesting that these preference shifts might serve to protect the underlying system.

Stepping around the Brick Wall: Overcoming Student Obstacles in Methods Courses.

Many political science departments offer, and increasing numbers of them require, undergraduate research methods courses. At the same time, studies cite high levels of student anxiety about such courses. Utilizing survey data from both students who take and faculty who teach methods, we conduct an analysis that compares the barriers students and faculty independently perceive. Next, we share results from our own exploratory assessment technique, which evaluates our success in increasing student confidence with regard to conducting research. Finally, we present specific exercises and assignments which can serve as solutions to student barriers. We argue that conscious reflection as to where students lack confidence and assessment of our efforts allows instructors to approach teaching methods more effectively.

The Effects of Gender-Bending on Candidate Evaluations

A candidates gender affects vote choice, but the manner in which candidates can influence the effects of their gender is not well understood. I address candidates’ strategies based on gender stereotypes, that is, how voters are influenced by rhetoric that is either consistent (gender-reinforcing) or inconsistent (gender-bending) with gender stereotypes. These strategic choices are particularly important because of womens underrepresentation in American politics. Employing an experimental design, I found that male and female candidates who used gender-bending rhetoric were able to overturn stereotypes by persuading and priming voters. Male candidates were particularly successful. This was contrary to prior findings that consistency—at least in terms of party—is a superior strategy. These results have important implications for understanding how gender stereotypes evolve throughout a campaign to influence voters.

Whose American Government? A Quantitative Analysis of Gender and Authorship in American Politics Texts

American government textbooks signal to students the kinds of topics that are important and, by omission, the kinds of topics that are not important to the discipline of political science. This article examines portrayals of women in introductory American politics textbooks through a quantitative content analysis of 22 widely used texts. We find that textbook coverage of women is scarce, tends to disregard important sources of diversity among women, reinforces traditional gender roles, and gives scant attention to women as political actors. Typical presentations of women thus reinforce womens status as political outsiders, mirroring their marginalization in American political life. We argue this content depresses interest in the academic study of political science and engagement with American political life more generally. However, we find that textbooks with one or more female author have significantly more gender-related content. Female political scientists better integrate gender into their textbooks and, thus, may be more likely to engage female students, who are underrepresented in the political science major.

Gender Targeting in Political Advertisements

Campaigns invoke identity appeals to specific groups of voters, including women. To understand whether these campaign appeals matter in affecting voters’ choices, we must better understand how women respond to these appeals, the causal mechanism driving responses, and whether male and female candidates can use these ads with equal effectiveness. Using a nationally representative sample of American voters and an experimental design, we test an identity-based appeal aimed at women. We find that, although candidates of either gender can use these ads to affect women’s votes, only female candidates are able to prime female voters’ gender identity. The use of these appeals by male candidates persuades female voters of their positive traits. Male voters are generally unaffected by the appeals. Given the integration of women and men in the general population, our results demonstrate the utility of targeted appeals in encouraging support from a specific group and avoiding backlash from others.

New Research on Gender in Political Psychology

This symposium consists of three papers written after a small mentoring conference, New Research on Gender in Political Psychology , which was held in New Brunswick, New Jersey, March 4–5, 2011. As junior scholars, we received a grant from the National Science Foundation (#SES-1014854) to organize a conference for the purposes of mentoring pretenure faculty and promoting scholarship on gender in political psychology. Each of the three articles in this symposium focuses on a different aspect of the conference.

The Interplay of Candidate Party and Gender in Evaluations of Political Candidates

ABSTRACT In this article, we study the interaction between candidate gender and party on voter evaluations. Theories from psychology are the basis for our hypotheses about how candidate identities such as party and gender combine: Party might dominate certain evaluations, gender might dominate others, or gender and party might work in either an additive or interactive way to influence evaluations. Our evidence suggests that both party and gender separately influence candidate evaluations, even when accounting for the other. We discuss implications of these findings for the evaluation of female candidates.

Gender-Based Strategies on Candidate Websites

As a result of changes in the campaign landscape, candidates have several strategic options available to them, particularly when considering how to respond to voters’ gender stereotypes. The goal of this paper is to understand candidates’ use of strategies based on gender stereotypes by emphasizing either particular issues or particular traits that are commonly associated with one gender or the other. To do this, I developed hypotheses of why candidates might choose a trait or issues strategy based on gender stereotypes. I tested these hypotheses using a large-scale content analysis of candidate websites over four election cycles. I found that female candidates mostly pursued strategies that were consistent with gender stereotypes. Interestingly, female candidates were found to have different strategies on different pages of their websites. I discuss the implications of gender-based strategies for the election of female candidates and for representation.

Building a Gender and Methodology Curriculum: Integrated Skills, Exercises, and Practices

In this article, we develop an argument for better integrating the political science curricula on methodology with gender politics. We demonstrate how these two areas are presently distinct and nonoverlapping with an analysis of commonly used methodology and women and politics textbooks. We examine the implications of these results for female students’ engagement with political methodology—an area in which women are persistently underrepresented—by drawing on research from STEM educators. Stereotype threat (Steele 1997; Steele and Aronson 1995) provides a framework for thinking about the myriad of ways the curriculum influences learning outcomes for female students and highlights the utility of greater crossover between the two subject areas. To facilitate better integration of methodology and gender politics, we identify opportunities for instructors to incorporate methods into courses on gender and gender into courses on methods. We also develop a number of different in-class activities and resources to help faculty to bridge the gap between gender and methodology.