Replication Data for: Looks Like a Leader: Measuring Evolution in Gendered Politician Stereotypes

Previous research showed that the stereotype of women politicians is incongruent with the general politician stereotype, which can be disadvantageous for women seeking political office. Based on the strong influx of women politicians in US politics, and the increased familiarity of the electorate with women in political leadership positions, we expect that voters now have a clearer picture of women politicians and that their stereotype is more congruent with the traits desired in political leaders. In testing this, we make a methodological contribution to the study of stereotyping by adapting a large-N list experiment as an effective and innovative measurement of stereotype endorsement. The results show important changes in gendered political stereotypes over the last ten years. The evolution of the women politician stereotype is encouraging: the traits that people associate with women politicians are more positive than ten years ago and more congruent to desirable traits for politicians. However, the findings also underscore the continuing masculinity of the political domain, by the strong overlap between the stereotype of men politicians and politicians in general. Even more pronounced than the positive trend for women politicians is the unfavorable evolution of the stereotypes of men politicians and politicians generally, which shows a strong downfall compared to a decade ago.

既往研究表明，女性政治家的刻板印象与大众对政治家的普遍刻板印象并不相符，这对谋求政治公职的女性而言颇为不利。鉴于美国政坛女性政治家大量涌入，且选民对女性担任政治领导职务的熟悉程度有所提升，我们推测如今选民对女性政治家已有更清晰的认知，且其对女性政治家的刻板印象也更契合政治领袖所需的特质。为验证这一推测，本研究对刻板印象研究做出了方法论层面的贡献：我们调整了大样本列表实验（large-N list experiment）法，将其作为衡量刻板印象认同度的有效且创新性工具。研究结果显示，过去十年间性别化的政治刻板印象已发生显著变化。女性政治家刻板印象的演变趋势令人振奋：相较于十年前，人们赋予女性政治家的特质更为积极，且更贴合政治家所需的理想特质。不过，研究结果也凸显了政治领域仍存的男性中心倾向——男性政治家的刻板印象与大众对政治家的普遍刻板印象存在高度重合。相较于女性政治家刻板印象的积极向好趋势，男性政治家刻板印象以及大众对政治家的普遍刻板印象却呈现出不利的演变态势：与十年前相比，这类刻板印象已出现显著滑坡。