Replication Data for Candidate Qualifications and Out-Group Support: Evidence from Afghanistan

Can qualifications help candidates from historically marginalized groups win over out-group voters? We help answer this question with an original conjoint experiment fielded on a face-to-face survey conducted in three Afghan provinces between 2016 and 2017. The conjoint asked over 2,400 Afghan respondents to rank and choose between profiles of hypothetical candidates with varying gender, ethnic and educational attributes. We explore whether candidate qualifications – as measured by educational attainment – can amplify respondents' support for hypothetical candidates from two social groups traditionally underrepresented in Afghan politics: women and Hazaras, a predominately Shi'a ethnic minority group. We find that higher qualifications consistently increase male (non-Hazara) respondents’ ranking and likelihood of choosing profiles with female (Hazara) candidates. These gains, however, do not completely offset male (non-Hazara) respondents’ in-group biases. Qualifications help but are not enough to dismantle voter preferences for in-group candidates.

资质能否帮助历来遭受边缘化的群体候选人赢得外群体选民的支持？本研究依托原创联合实验（conjoint experiment）解答这一问题，该实验于2016至2017年间在阿富汗三个省份开展的面对面调查中实地实施。本次联合实验邀请超过2400名阿富汗受访者，对具备不同性别、族裔与教育属性的假设候选人画像进行排序与选择。本研究旨在探究以受教育程度衡量的候选人资质，能否提升受访者对阿富汗政坛历来代表性不足的两大社会群体——女性群体与哈扎拉族（Hazaras，以什叶派（Shi'a）为主体的少数民族）——出身的假设候选人的支持度。研究发现，更高的资质始终能够提升男性（非哈扎拉族）受访者对女性（哈扎拉族）候选人画像的排名评分与选择概率。然而，这类收益并未完全抵消男性（非哈扎拉族）受访者的内群体偏见。资质虽有裨益，但不足以消除选民对内群体候选人的偏好。