Gender-Based Differences in Information Use and Processing among State Legislators

Abstract

ABSTRACTRelying on data from a survey of 612 state legislators in the United States, this study asks: Do male and female legislators use and respond to information in different ways? The results show the following: (1) Female legislators attend to more information than male legislators do; (2) Female legislators rely much less on their own thoughts and experiences to guide them than male legislators do; (3) Female legislators are more likely than male legislators are to attend to information from interest groups, research studies, state agencies and departments, and local politicians; (4) Female legislators consider a larger range of argument types when they make legislative decisions than male legislators do; and (5) Female legislators are more likely than male legislators are to seriously consider dense, credible, policy and economic analytical arguments, as well as other-oriented arguments. In all, these results support the selectivity model of information processing, which holds that in contrast to men, women are comprehensive information processers, who instead of zeroing in on one or a few information sources when a choice opportunity presents itself, attempt to assimilate and process all the information available to them.