Gender, Sexism, and Contempt in Candidate Evaluation

ABSTRACT

Several recent studies have shown that the emotion of contempt, which is often linked to negative appraisals of competence and integrity, is the most important negative emotion in some electoral contests. Furthermore, gender-based stereotypes and prejudice have been shown to cause voters to evaluate female candidates in ways that seem contemptuous, i.e. as inferior and having undesirable traits. In this study, we analyze how sexism and gender-based prejudices may influence voters’ emotions (especially their levels of contempt) in response to female political candidates in general and to those who violate gender norms. We find strong differences in emotional responses between sexist and nonsexist voters.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexism
• politics
• contempt
• gender
• emotions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Authors listed in alphabetical order.

2. Research has shown that short versions of the ASI have the same psychometric properties as the original (Rollero, Glick, and Tartaglia 2014) and we use the same abbreviated version that has been used in previous political science research (Cassese and Holman 2018).

3. Full text of these vignettes is available in the Appendix.

4. The definitions given for each emotion were as follows. In this survey, “contempt” and “contemptuous” refer to feelings of scorn that people may have toward someone when they have a very low opinion of that person. In this survey, “anger” and “angry” refer to feelings of hostility that people may have toward someone. In this survey, “enthusiasm” and “enthusiastic” refer to feelings of excitement that people may have toward someone. In this survey, “pride” and “proud” refer to feelings of delight and gratification that people may have toward someone.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tessa Ditonto

Tessa Ditonto is an Associate Professor of Gender and Politics in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University. She does research on women and politics, political behavior and political psychology, and focuses specifically on how voters learn about political candidates and make decisions during political campaigns. She is particularly interested in how voters evaluate women candidates and how gender-based stereotypes influence impression formation, information search patterns and decision-making among voters. Her work has been featured in journals such as Journal of Politics, Political Analysis, Political Behavior, Political Psychology, and Public Opinion Quarterly.

Kyle Mattes

Kyle Mattes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University. His research interests include political psychology, voter behavior, gender and politics, formal theory, and American politics. Specifically, his work focuses on several areas including political disinformation, reflexive perceptions of political candidates, political campaign simulations, and the effects of information and cognition on political behavior. His work has been featured in journals such as Electoral Studies, Journal of Politics, Political Behavior, and Political Psychology. His book with David P. Redlawsk, The Positive Case for Negative Campaigning, is available from University of Chicago Press.