Toward a profile of the female voter: Sex differences in perceived physical attractiveness and competence of political candidates

Abstract

Recent national attention has focused on women's voting behavior because of this group's increasing power to determine outcomes of local, state, and national elections. Research has not established whether males and females use the same “decision rules” in evaluating political candidates. Because of the link between perceived physical attractiveness and many positive attributes, the present study examined sex differences in ratings of attractiveness and competence of 44 men and women in the U.S. House of Representatives. Results indicated that males and females use similar rules in evaluating male politicans' attractiveness. Women show a pro-female sentiment in evaluating female politicians' competence. Physical attractiveness was positively related to perceived competence for both male and female politicians. Contrary to previous research, women voters showed a marked pro-female sentiment, and men were neutral, evaluating male and female politicians similarly.