Gender and Gubernatorial Personality

Abstract

Abstract Recent work in state politics has presented conflicting evidence regarding whether male and female political actors view and use power in different manners. In contrast with the previous works that have generally focused on gender differences in the legislative arena, this paper examines differences between male and female governors in the expressions of different notions of power in their personalities. Applying measurement strategies grounded in social psychology, we find that female governors are indeed more likely than male governors to express a more “feminine,” “power to” orientation in their public lives. Surprisingly, however, modern female governors are also more likely than a large sample of modern male governors to express the more traditional, hierarchical “power over” motive. Based on previous research, these findings bode well for the success of women governors as legislative leaders in the increasingly complex state political environments. Two important trends reveal themselves in ...