Media mentions of female political candidates’ looks have ugly electoral results (Blog)
Media mentions of female political candidates’ looks have ugly electoral results (Blog)
- April 9, 2013
- Research by Shawn Rosenberg, political science professor, is featured by How Stuff Works April 9, 2013
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From How Stuff Works:
Whether good, bad, or ugly, female political candidates’ looks making the news hurts
their electability. A survey jointly sponsored by Name It. Change It., the Women’s
Media Center and She Should Run found that whenever the media report on the appearance
of women running for office, the outcome is negative — no matter whether news items
praise or critique her pantsuits and sensible updos. Based on the responses of 1,500
likely male and female voters, including an oversample of 100 women, the survey revealed
that the appearance reporting hurt the women candidates the most in the areas of “being
in touch, being likeable, confident, effective and qualified.” This new research resonates
with past studies on how political candidate looks affect voter impressions. A 2012
study, for instance, conducted by UC Irvine political scientist Shawn W. Rosenberg
found that people who looked the most competent were the most likely to win over prospective
voters by a margin of 12 percentage points.
For the full story, please visit http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2013/04/09/media-mentions-of-female-polit....
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