Attitudes toward Women and Men in Politics: Perceived Male and Female Candidate Competencies and Participant Personality Characteristics

Abstract

One explanation for the scarcity of women in high political office is sexism of voters. Possible sexism in the attitudes of 286 college students toward women versus men in politics was explored by giving participants a paragraph describing a hypothetical male or female politician and asking them to rate the effectiveness of the candidate on masculine, four 'feminine, and two neutral presidental tasks. One hundred twenty-nine of the students were tested before the November 6, 1984 election, 157 after. Students also completed three personality scales. The male candidate was rated significantly higher on the masculine items, the female higher on the 'feminine items. Significant interactions were found between sex of candidate and participants' attitudes toward women on masculine and 'feminine tasks. Overall little evidence was found to support sexism of voters as a possible explanation for why women are not elected to high political offices more often.