The glass ceiling is cracked but is it broken?
Female politicians in the media and the effects on perceived competence and voting behavior.
by Austeja Poskute
10842012
A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science degree of Research Master: Communication Science
Graduate School of Communication Supervisor: Dr. Sanne Kruikemeier
Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated that female and male politicians receive different media attention and coverage. However, a little work has been done analyzing the effects this have on the perception of politicians. Therefore, the present study is designed to determine whether female politicians covered in the news media are evaluated differently compared to male politicians. Specifically, our intention is threefold: first, we investigate if gender has an effect on the level of perceived competence of politicians. Second, we aim to attain deeper knowledge if the covered issue (education or national defense) moderates this relationship. Third, we look into a more complex connection and the effects on voting intention. A total of 112 participants were recruited in the 2 (female vs. male) x 2 (education vs. national defense) between-subjects online experiment. Contrary to previous evidence, results show that female politicians covered in the news media are actually perceived as more competent. Similarly, they also benefit when a compassionate topic is discussed. Finally, we find evidence that there is a relationship between the gender of a politician, the covered issue and the level of perceived competence per se altering voting intention.
Introduction
The media remain the most important information source that not only transmit specific information (Gamson, 2000), but also significantly contribute in shaping people’s mindset (Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007). Such media hegemony is a particularly manifest phenomenon in politics and political communication, which in most of the cases is mediated (translated via mass medium) instead of involving a direct dialogue with the audience (Bennett & Entman, 2000). In other words, “the best description of the current situation is “mediatization,” where political institutions increasingly are dependent on and shaped by mass media“ (Mazzoleni & Schulz, 1999, p. 247). Hereby, in order to be a full-fledged member of political life, it is essential to comprehend the capacity of the media for both sides of the arena, the audience that consumes the translated message and those who are (or want to be) in the media. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the media
representations have an effect on how people see and evaluate politicians.
Drawing upon the previous work of such scholars as Karl Deutsch (1963) and Robert Meadow (1980), Gianpietro Mazzoleni and Winfried Schulz have argued that now “politics is communication“ (Mazzoleni & Schulz, 1999, p. 250). Moreover, as the popularity and
significance of mass media remain high and are even increasing with the rise of alternative media forms (Fuery, 2009), it becomes clear that politics and political communication are not only mediated but it is now pivotal for politicians to be in the news in order to stay on the social agenda (Aalberg & Strömbäck, 2011). Crucially, academia agrees that more and more frequently the position and the legitimacy of a politician’s exercised power is directly related to the ability to master and communicate through respective media channels (Castells, 2007). This way, it could be asserted that, in addition to their professional activities, politicians should pay exceptional attention to the necessity to respond to and manage their image that is translated by the media (Bligh, Schlehofer, Casad, & Gaffney, 2012).
Importantly, such recognized necessity creates an additional bias for female
politicians who are already considered to be treated differently not only within social arena but also the media (Bligh et al., 2012; Lühiste & Banducci, 2016). Consistent with previous academic work, it should be acknowledged, that one of the main reasons why such situation does not progress as rapidly as we would like is that the media still use stereotypes to assess politicians’ abilities to perform their duties (Aalberg & Jenssen, 2007; Campus, 2013; Kahn, 1992, 1994; Schneider & Bos, 2014). Research has found that female politicians attract less media attention than males (Kahn, 1994; Vos, 2013). However, when they do, in most of the cases, this coverage resembles soft news where the most attention is paid to personal
characteristics, details of one’s personal life and physical appearance rather than professional skills (Devitt, 2002; Heldman, Carroll, & Olson, 2005; Niven, 2005). Therefore, this way, by emphasizing some specific attributes and overlooking others, the media significantly
contribute to the way politicians are perceived by the electorate. For that reason, we aimed at examining if female politicians covered in the news media are evaluated in a different light compared to male politicians.
Inherently, the overview of the past research demonstrated that most studies concerning female politicians can be divided into two categories. Firstly, content analysis studies mainly focusing on the manner of the media coverage (Bystrom, Robertson, & Banwart, 2001; Heldman et al., 2005; Jalalzai, 2006; Niven, 2005) and, secondly, the
empirical research examining the phenomenon that some issues are perceived as an expertise of female politicians whereas others, as male (Falk & Kenski, 2006; Huddy & Terkildsen, 1993; Lammers, Gordijn, & Otten, 2008). Subsequently, we came to the realization that there is a gap in the literature investigating the effects of gender on perceived competence and voting intention. The decision to focus on the perception of competence had a further
and the increasing need for highly skilled people, the situation concerning professional employment has recently become a major issue within popular discourse (Aalberg & Jenssen, 2007). More specifically, the equality based on competence rather than competence-irrelevant factors such as gender, became a central point of the discussions regarding ranking positions such as political posts where high expertise and intelligence are required (Bligh et al., 2011; Lammers et al., 2009). Hence, we reached a decision that the examination of perceived competence and voting intention most accurately designates the real-life outcomes that could be related to the main independent variable – gender. Additionally, due to the fact that previous studies found that there is a belief that some issues are more masculine, whereas others – more feminine, and the issue presented by the politician could have a considerable influence and outweigh other factors, we also decided to include it into our analysis.
The analysis and clarification of the relationship between discussed factors have a double advantage. First, it can serve as an indicator of the gender inequality on a broader scope and, second, provide a clearer picture of the processes within the political arena which are usually left invisible to the electorate.
Theoretical background
It has been recognized that lately there are more women than ever who aspire for and occupy leading managerial posts around the world ("Facts and figures: Leadership and political participation", 2017). The political arena is no exception, where a growing number of female politicians manage to refute dominant gender stereotypes and break through the so-called glass ceiling (Fox, 2010). The most recent and the highest profile case - Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and the popular support she received during the presidential election of the United States of America - shows that modern politics are becoming more receptive and the electorate bases the choice on more reasonable grounds than gender. Simultaneously,
even though females are now more commonly met within this specific area of expertise (Adcock, 2010; Lammers et al., 2009), old social stereotypes and gender boundaries still exist (Campus, 2013; Jamieson, 1995; Kahn, 1992). The research has indicated that despite the increasing numbers of women actively participating in politics and holding office, females are still underrepresented and constitute only a small part of the political spectrum compared to men (Elder, 2004).
Visibility – (Under/Mis)Representation in the media
As well as the political arena itself, the representation of female politicians in the media is imbalanced (Bligh et al., 2011; Campus, 2013; Lühiste & Banducci, 2016). Previous studies clearly demonstrated that females receive less coverage than their male colleagues and this way confirmed the existing underrepresentation of female politicians in the media (Adcock, 2010; Kahn & Goldenberg, 1991; Vos, 2013). Nonetheless, according to Donatella Campus, when considering media representations, we should talk about visibility in more general terms paying attention to not only “the quantity of the coverage but also how the press frames that coverage“ (Campus, 2013, p. 39). That is to say, the media coverage is gender imbalanced not only when it comes to the quantity, but also the quality of it.
Importantly, despite this existing gender imbalance in the political institutions, translating unequal media representation might contribute to the status quo (Hall, 1997). The politics of the media representation have been deeply discussed by Stuart Hall who argued that the meaning is created in the discourse and the media play a central role in this process. Due to the capacity to set the arbitrary lines between what is “normal” and “abnormal”, this phenomenon was termed as the “hegemony” of the media. Therefore, people who control the media actually hold the power to shape how the audience sees (and perceives) the object of representation (Griffin, 2011). Consequently, by putting an emphasis on such competence-irrelevant factors as gender rather professional skills and experience, the media
misrepresentations significantly contribute forming distorted perspective on political actors and their professional capabilities.
Competence
Academia has argued that female politicians form a separate group that does not fit into stereotypically female characteristics, but at the same time still lacks skills to be
perceived as competent and right for the office as men (Richards & Hewstone, 2001). That is to say, that even if women start possessing themselves as demonstrating typical leadership traits, they are still evaluated in a different manner than men (Dolan, 2010; Schneider & Bos, 2014).
Empirical evidence demonstrates that due to the old implicit bias seeing females as lacking leadership skills necessary at handling political issues, they are automatically perceived as less competent at participating in professional political life compared to men (Alexander & Andersen, 1993; Eagly & Karau, 2002; Scharrer, 2002). Due to the fact that the media hold the power to shape how people evaluate the surrounding world (Hall, 1997), such distorted impression of female politicians can be further sustained if the media coverage is not balanced. Therefore, Karen Ross has argued that “a woman politician is always described as a woman politician in the media, her sex is always on display, always the primary
descriptor. She is defined by what she is not, that is, she is not a ‘typical’ politician” (Ross, 2004, p. 66). Specifically, previous research has indicated that the media pay more attention to female politicians’ appearances, emotions, marital status and maternal role, compared to male politicians and the consequences of such coverage are pernicious. The emphasis placed on personal attributes rather than the issue expertise further lowers the impression of
competence and suitability for the post (Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009; Kahn, 1994). Even though it is evident that this manner of representation is not balanced, it could not be said that
the media completely neglects female politicians. In fact, the media this way grant female politicians more coverage, but by focusing on personal traits rather than professional skills they notably reinforce gender stereotypes (Vos, 2013).
Furthermore, the extensively employed references to gender-typical traits also affect the perception of one’s competence. Likewise, people usually describe women as “more compassionate, willing to compromise, and oriented toward people, while men have been viewed as more assertive, active, and self-confident” (Fox & Oxley, 2003, p. 835).
Prominently, these traits ascribed to males benefit the latter because they are considered as the “right fit for a politician” turning them into more favorable and competent candidates (Kittilson & Fridkin, 2008; Schneider & Bos, 2014). In sum, both, media accent on factual attributes such as physical appearance or certified marital status and more conceptual features such as personal traits, in a way “harm” female politicians affecting the evaluation of their competence.
Since competence is the main outcome variable in this study, it was important to employ a measure that would be valid and reliable. Therefore, due to the convincing
explanation of the comprehensiveness of the concept, the decision has been made to rely on James McCroskey and Jason Teven’s (1999) proposed definition and operationalisation of it. On the basis of previous experience operationalising competence, McCroskey and Jason have argued that "competence" as an element is not homogenous, rather, it is composed of four separate components: “qualification, expertness, intelligence, authoritativeness” (p. 90). Taking this into account, they composed a measurement scale which includes questions covering all the mentioned attributes. In turn, convinced by this argument and results of the previously executed reliability tests, we decided that such measure would give us the most satisfying results.
Based on discussed findings and theories, it was expected that there is a difference in how female and male politicians’ competence is perceived. Namely, the first hypothesis was formulated as follows:
H1: Female politicians covered in the news media are perceived as less competent compared to male politicians.
Issue expertise
In order to analyze the evaluations of politicians and their professional skills, it is necessary to accurately determine if some specific political issues are regarded as superior to others. Vast majority of studies indicated that stereotypes play an important role in this case. For instance, it has been agreed that “many actors—voters, party officials, candidates, journalists—transfer their stereotypical expectations about men and women to male and female candidates” (Fox & Oxley, 2003, pp. 833 - 834) and the result is that “certain
personality traits and areas of policy expertise come to be regarded as “feminine” and others “masculine”” (Fox & Oxley, 2003, p. 834). Similarly, in their work analyzing male and female political candidates Leonie Huddy and Nayda Terkildsen have identified two types of applied stereotypes – belief and trait stereotypes (Huddy & Terkildsen, 1993). The main argument stated that while trait stereotypes allude to personal characteristics typical to a specific gender, belief stereotypes concern political ideologies and policy areas which are then put into a parallel to being a male or a female. Following this logic then, the
“assumptions about women candidates and officeholders generally conform to stereotyped thinking about issue positions as well” (Dolan, 2014, p. 97). Thus, while females are seen as more liberal candidates and more capable of addressing such issues as education, healthcare and social issues, males are still regarded as being better at dealing with military, economy, crime or business affairs (Aalberg & Jenssen, 2007; Alexander & Andersen, 1993; Falk & Kenski, 2006; Huddy & Terkildsen, 1993; Sapiro, 1981).
Equally important is the fact that the active stereotyping and the classification to what is feminine and masculine are especially evident in situations when one lacks information concerning the political actor or the issue at stake. Hereby, gender stereotypes are then used as shortcuts for the evaluation of politician’s skills to run for the position of an elected official or handle the issue (Aalberg & Jenssen, 2007; McDermott, 1997; Sapiro, 1981). Consequently, due to the effects of the trait and belief stereotypes, the important issues covered by female politicians are evaluated differently compared to the issues covered by male politicians (Aalberg & Jenssen, 2007; Lammers et al., 2009). For instance, the conducted study analyzing the effects of terrorist threat on the assessment of female leadership skills found that certain gender trait stereotypes are activated according to the context of the issue. Therefore, when the issue is competitive (such as the threat of terrorism in the referred study), the negative effect on the evaluation of female politicians’ competence is observed (Holman, Merolla, & Zechmeister, 2011).The situation is somewhat different when one thinks about more peaceful context and compassionate topics. Contrary to the times of conflict when people favor male leaders, when the issue at stake requires a more
sympathetic response, they prefer to see a feminine figure (Little, Burriss, Jones, & Roberts, 2007).
What should not be overlooked is the fact that such situation is analogous to the media coverage which per se affects how the electorate perceives the female politician. This phenomenal media influence is referred to as the “antithesis relationship of women and politics” (Aalberg & Jenssen, 2007, p. 21). In other words, by translating the specific coverage that makes a clear division between what is feminine and masculine the media activate (and further cultivate) those trait and belief stereotypes that affect how people evaluate politicians. As a result, even when females achieve that they are covered in terms of their professional work, they are only represented and perceived as more qualified than men
when compassionate issues such as social care, health and education are being discussed (Falk & Kenski, 2006; Herrnson, Lay, & Stokes, 2003; Koch, 1999).
Therefore the second formulated hypothesis stated that:
H2: Female politicians are perceived as less competent when they are covered in the media about a competitive topic vs. a compassionate topic, while male politicians are perceived as more competent when they are covered in the media about a competitive topic vs. a compassionate topic.
Voting intention
A related concern is that these discussed applied stereotypes create a double-standard situation for female politicians; this way they have to overcome the created gender as well as institutional (expertise) barriers. In order to assess what effects the different perception of politicians’ competence has on the popular support, the decision has been made to employ and operationalise voting behavior. Specifically, such decision was driven by the
contradicting findings of previous studies. Some of them have demonstrated that female politicians are more likely to be voted for, whereas others indicated that males usually receive higher popular support (Paul & Smith, 2008; Paolino, 1995; Sanbonmatsu, 2002;
Sanbonmatsu & Dolan, 2008). Thus, it was expected that additional factors such as the level of perceived competence as well as the issue covered could affect the relationship between the gender of a politician and voting intention.
Certainly, as discussed earlier, an important role in this relationship is played by the applied stereotypes. Whilst some academics have argued that by trying to break through the far-gone gender stereotype and distance themselves from typical femininity female politicians benefit increasing their chances of being elected (Campus, 2013), there is also an opposite indication claiming that society automatically expresses the antipathy towards the stereotype
offender and refuses to support (Rudman & Fairchild, 2004). For instance, the research team from the Netherlands examined the interplay between the (counter)prototypical female and male politicians and willingness to support them (Lammers et al., 2009). “Prototypicality” in this case implied to being a typical member of a group and possessing stereotypical
characteristics that are ascribed to it, in this specific case – gender. The main findings of the experimental study indicated that “in the communal condition prototypical females were rated as better candidates than prototypical males, and better candidates than
counterprototypical females“ (Lammers et al., 2009, p. 191). Similar patterns observed in the competitive condition only confirmed the raised hypotheses. Therefore, we are provided with an empirical proof that politicians are more likely to receive the popular support when their competence is seen as higher; in this case, when their discussed issue matches trait and belief stereotypes ascribed to their gender. Moreover, people express more critical attitude towards the stereotype offender - counterprototypical politician (Rudman & Fairchild, 2004) because she or he simply does not conform the gendered expectation.
Certainly, the role of the media in this relationship should be acknowledged. Due to the fact that the media is driven by news values that put most of the focus on scandals, threat and negativity, it is mostly dominated by news regarding war, business and global crises ("Why do some conflicts get more media coverage than others?", 2012). Consistently, evidence suggested that people evaluate the competence of their candidates on the basis of how good they are at dealing with those “most important“ issues (Falk & Kenski, 2006). In such circumstances, male candidates receive a greater electoral support than female
candidates because it is not the typical expertise of females and they are perceived as less competent dealing with this (Dolan, 2004, 2010). Similarly though, it has been argued that being aware of the fact that their competence is rated higher when the issue covered is “representative” of their gender (e.g. education or welfare for females), politicians can use
this for their advantage. That is, they can use one or another issue as the focal point of their campaign and this way increase the impression of their competence per se leading to higher chances of being elected (Herrnson, et al., 2003).
In line with the discussed arguments, the third hypothesis was formulated as follows:
H3: The moderated effect of gender and issue (i.e., competitive topic vs.
compassionate topic) on perceived competence, has in turn, a positive effect on voting.
Figure 1. The Moderated mediation Effect of Gender on Voting Intention via Perceived Competence, moderated by Issue.
Method Participants
An online experiment was developed in order to successfully test raised hypotheses. Corresponding to those hypotheses and research intentions, a 2 (male vs. female) x 2
(feminine topic vs. masculine topic) between-subjects design was chosen. Participants for the experiment were selected under one condition, they all had to be native Lithuanian language speakers or have at least a sufficient knowledge it. In total, 145 respondents took part in this experiment. After the data was cleared up, the final sample consisted of 112 people. 59% (n = 72) of the total sample were females, the average age was 32.16 years old (SD = 11.04) and the majority of the sample indicated being highly educated.
Gender of a politician (Female vs. Male)
Voting Perceived competence
Topic
(Education vs. National defense) H2
Pre-testing and manipulation check
With the purpose of accurately picking two topics for the main stimulus material, a pre-test was run. 10 respondents were asked to rate 8 possible topics on the five-point scale (1 = very feminine, 5 = very masculine). Analysis of the results revealed that majority of respondents named education as the most feminine (n = 10, M = 1.8, SD = .63) and national defense as the most masculine topic (n = 10, M = 4.2, SD = .63) (see Table 1). Therefore, those topics were employed for the main manipulation material in the conducted online experiment.
Table 1
Means and Standard Deviations of Issue Competency Topics
Variable N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
National defense 10 3 5 4.2 .63 Economy 10 2 4 3 .47 Foreign affairs 10 3 5 3.9 .57 Taxation 10 3 4 3.1 .32 Employment 10 2 3 2.5 .53 Education 10 1 3 1.8 .63 Welfare 10 2 3 2.4 .52 Culture 10 1 3 2.6 .52
Additionally, the main experiment included manipulation check asking respondents whose position they have just read, female or male politician’s. Furthermore, as the
experimental manipulation was designed using two main topics (education and national defense), participants were asked to indicate which one of those was discussed in the presented piece. 92.45% (n = 49) of the respondents who were exposed to a female politician’s speech and 97.1% (n = 67) of those who were given male politician’s position indicated that correctly. In total, 95% of the participants specified their topic accurately.
The stimulus was presented to respondents as a fragment of an official statement of the politician (See Appendix). The content of it was made up using real statements of the politicians from Lithuania found on the most popular news websites. Therefore, those issues presented were relevant to the citizens of Lithuania. All 4 composed pieces visually looked the same, they were kept to the same length, written in the same font and contained the same information. As all of them presented 2 different topics (education as compassionate and national defense as competitive), they were grouped as 2 articles for each topic. The only difference between 2 articles within the topic was the name of the politician indicating whether the position presented was expressed by a male or a female. In order to keep the possible bias as small as possible, the names of the politicians were selected as resembling each other. For instance, female politician was called Justina Kazlauskiene, whereas for male it was Justinas Kazlauskas. Also, selected names did not coincide with the names of any truly living and working politicians per se preventing a possible stimulation of pre-existing
associations.
Procedure
All participants were randomly assigned to one of 4 experimental groups. At the beginning of the experiment a short introduction as well as a piece of information concerning the time of the experiment were given. In addition to this, all respondents were guaranteed the anonymity and asked to sign the participation agreement. The first block of questions asked for the information regarding participant’s demographics such as age, gender,
education, etc. Later they were asked about their voting habits, political leaning and whether they voted in the last government election. Due to the fact that the last government election was held recently (9th and 23rd of October, 2016), the actual behaviour of one’s voting was considered to reflect the conventional understanding of political participation (Dalton, 2008). In addition to this, media usage habits were also included in the questionnaire.
When exposed to one of the manipulation material, respondents were told that they are reading a position of recently elected official and later asked to answer some questions. In order to make sure that participants have read the full article, the button allowing them to continue appeared only after 15 seconds. After respondents answered questions, they were provided with the debriefing information explaining the intention of the conducted study and the manipulation they just experienced. Lastly, they were thanked for spending time taking part in the study.
Measures
The following measures were included:
Voting intention. Respondents were asked if they would vote for the politician whose political position on the topic they just read. This was measured on seven-point Likert type scale (1 = totally disagree, 7 = totally agree; M = 3.34, SD = 1.06).
Competence. This variable was measured asking participants to use seven-point Likert type scale to indicate how they consider this politician to be (1 = Intelligent - 7 = Unintelligent; 1 = Untrained - 7 = Trained; 1 = Inexpert - 7 = Expert; 1 = Informed - 7 = Uninformed; 1 = Incompetent – 7 = Competent; 1 = Bright – 7 = Stupid). Later questions concerning Intelligence, Being informed and Brightness were recoded as advised by McCroskey and Teven (1999). The scale proved to be reliable, α = .95, items load on one scale (Eigenvalue = 8.37, Explained variance = 69.78%, M = 4.76, SD = .18).
Sexism. Sexism was measured using the scale adapted from Peter Glick and Susan Tufts Fiske’s (1996) constructed Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). Taken together, all 22 items aim at assessing the modern relationship between men and women with the focus on sexism. Analyses from previous research showed that the reliability of the scale is high,
ranging from .83 to .92., and this was the main motive to employ it for this study.
Respondents were asked to rate proposed series of statements on the basis of how much they agree (1 = Totally agree, 5 = Totally disagree) with them. Example questions are: “Many women are actually seeking special favors, such as hiring policies that favor them over men, under the guise of asking for “equality”’ and “Most women fail to appreciate fully all that men do for them”. The scale proved to be reliable, α = .81, items load on one scale
(Eigenvalue = 1.11, Explained variance = 61.98%, M = 2.83, SD = .43).
Control variables
Additionally to the main variables, several control variables were taken into consideration and included in the study. Those were respondents’ political participation assessed by asking them to indicate whether they voted in the last parliament elections (that took place 2 months prior the research); political leaning measured on a seven-point Likert scale (1 = very liberal; 7 = very conservative; M = 3.02, SD = 1.39); the main utilized means of news consumption. Moreover, questions concerning respondents’ gender, age, level of education and current marital status were included in the questionnaire.
Analyses
In order to test the raised hypotheses, three main analyses were run using SPSS statistical analysis software package. To evaluate the validity of the first hypothesis arguing that there is a direct effect of the politician’s gender on the level of perceived competence of him or her, an independent sample t-test was carried out. The second hypothesis concerning the moderated effect of the gender of a politician and the topic covered (education vs.
national defense) on the perception of his or her competence was analysed executing the two-way ANOVA. Lastly, the third hypothesis inspecting the moderated mediation effect was analysed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 7). Here the gender of the politician was
included as an independent variable, voting as dependent variable, perceived competence as mediator and the issue covered as moderator.
Results
Randomization
Chi-squared test of independence was conducted to check whether groups differed between one another. Based on the retrieved estimations, it became clear that groups did not differ significantly regarding their gender χ2
(3) = 3.97, p = .27, current marital status χ2(12) = 13.9, p = .30, and if they voted during the last national election χ2(3) = .79, p = .85. Additionally, a one-way ANOVA test was run to see if groups differed significantly
regarding the level of education, political leaning and media consumption. Accordingly, no significant difference was observed between groups regarding the level of education, F(3, 118) = .81, p = .49; expressed political leaning, F(3, 118) = .85, p = .47; neither for media consumption habits, F(3, 118) = 1.20, p = .12; nor marital status, F(3, 118) = 1.20, p = .31. Moreover, due to the fact the main experiment concerned gender equality, we wanted to be sure that the level of sexism expressed by respondents in all groups is kept similar. Test results showed that we successfully met this requirement, F(3, 118) = 3.04, p = .32.
Therefore, as the results of all analyses showed that groups were completely randomized, no additional actions to guarantee the internal validity were taken.
Direct effect on perceived competence
An independent t-test was run to determine if there were differences in the perception of competence of male and female politicians. In total, 122 cases (53 females and 69 males) were analyzed. The results of Levene’s test, F(120) = .01, p = .93, indicated that there was homogeneity of variances found. Therefore, the standard t-test results were used. The results
of the test were significant, t(120) = 2.42, p < .05, 95% CI [0.1, 1.01], d = 1.2, indicating that there was a significant difference between the scores of the credibility perception of female politicians (n = 53, M = 5.07, SD = 1.26) and the scores for male competence estimations (n = 69, M = 4.52, SD = 1.25). However, the first hypothesis has been rejected as the perceived competence of female politicians was evaluated higher than male politicians (see Figure 2).
Figure 2
Means for Perceived Competence by Gender
Moderated effect on perceived competence
A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to investigate the
moderated effect on perceived competence. The analysis showed that there was a statistically significant interaction between gender of a politicians and the issue covered for perceived competence score, F(1, 118) = 5.58, p < .05, partial η2 = .05. Additionally, there was a statistically significant difference in perceived competence score between female and male
politicians who covered education topic, F(1, 118) = 11.24, p < .001, partial η2 = .09. For education topic, mean perceived competence score for females was 5.38 (SD = .26) and 4.27 (SD = .20) for males, a statistically significant mean difference of 1.11, 95% CI [0.45, 1.76].
For national defense topic, mean perceived competence score for females was 4.85 (SD = .25) and 4.82 (SD = .22) for males, however, mean difference of .03 was not
statistically significant, F(1, 118) = .011, p = .92, partial η2 = .000, 95% CI [-0.59, 0.65].
Consequently, the raised hypothesis was partly accepted as only education topic had a statistically significant effect on the perception of politician’s competence and, as thought, female politicians were rated higher (See Figure 3). The difference regarding national defense topic was not observed.
Figure 3
Moderated mediation effect on voting
A moderated mediation analysis (Model 7; Hayes, 2012) was run to test the third hypothesis. Obtained results showed that the gender of the politician significantly affects the perceived competence of him or her, b = .56, SE = .23, t = 2.48, p = .015, 95% CI [1.01, -0.11]. Similarly, the direct effect of the gender of the politician on voting has been observed, b = -.49, SE = .18, t = -2.78, p = .006, 95% CI [-0.84, -0.14]. Finally, the main finding showed the moderated mediation effect on voting to be significant for education issue, b = -.49, SE = .15, CI [-0.83, -0.23] but not national defense, b = -.015, SE = .15, 95% CI [-0.36, 0.26]. Thus, the results showed that the third hypothesis is partly supported; there is a moderated effect of gender and issue on perceived competence, which in turn, has a positive effect on voting. However, this is only a case for female politicians covering education issue.
Discussion
The purpose of the current study was threefold. We aimed at making an empirical contribution to the field by examining the effects which the gender of political figures might have on a larger scope. First of all, the conducted online experiment gave us a better understanding if gender has an effect on the level of perceived competence of
politicians. Additionally, we determined the degree to which the issue covered might
moderate this relationship. Similarly, the moderated mediation effect on voting intention was investigated.
Findings
First of all, the conducted study provided the evidence that the gender of a politician does not have an expected effect on perceived competence. More precisely,
a higher score on perceived competence scale than male politicians. Such finding could be explained by the assumption that gender bias is not that prominent in political arena anymore. In other words, people do not use gender as the main heuristic when they make their
decisions and evaluate politicians. Instead, they start paying more attention to one’s education, professional experience and skills that are necessary to handle specific political responsibilities (Campus, 2013).
Additionally, politicians are now aware of the power of the media and seeking that the image translated by the media would be favorable to them. That is, they are trying to take an active role in the mediated political communication game (Adcock, 2010; Herrnson et al., 2003; Ross, 2004). Such initiative to participate creating and translating one’s image is especially important for female politicians who, as argued by earlier research, are
disadvantaged in this media coverage examining both, quantity and quality of it (Campus, 2013). Therefore, whilst male politicians are mostly concerned how to shape and control their image, female politicians firstly have to make sure their image is in the media (Lühiste & Banducci, 2016). There are two main means employed by female politicians that arguably sustain their authority and impression of competence. Firstly, in order to prevent any possibility of the stereotypical perception of them, female politicians more frequently than males make the specific issue the focal point of their campaign (Kahn & Goldenberg, 1991). Secondly, they successfully make use of the fact that people commonly see them as more trustworthy than males (McDermott, 1997). Trustworthiness is important here because it is considered to be directly linked to competence; it is “competence in domain over which trust is being given” (Levi & Stoker, 2000, p. 476). Hence, in line with our findings and previous academic arguments, the perception of competence of politicians is now more likely to be influenced by additional factors rather than gender.
The second finding showed that there is an interaction between the gender of a politician and the issue covered per se leading to a different perception of competence. This, however, only proved to be true when talking about education. Such results are consistent with those of Huddy & Terkildsen (1993) who argued that females are seen as better dealing with compassionate issues such as welfare, education and health whereas males are more competent dealing with competitive topics like military, national defense or crime.
Nevertheless, it is worth to mention that in contrast to earlier findings, no evidence of latter was observed. Quite the reverse, our study showed that even though not significantly, but females are also perceived as more competent when seemingly masculine topic is at stake. This can be explained by the fact that females are breaking down the stereotypes and are increasingly becoming more agentic (Diekman & Eagly, 2000). In other words, they are taking the advantage of the fact that the stereotype is shifting and being a male or a female does not necessarily mean carrying predetermined traits anymore. Moreover, such observed shift of the stereotype plays to female advantage and adds to the level of perceived
competence because “agentic women are perceived as competent but cold, whereas
communal men are perceived as warm but incompetent” (Rudman & Glick, 2011 in Bligh et al., 2011, p. 565). However, despite the fact that in our study male politicians talking about education (compassionate topic) were given a lower score on the perceived competence scale, the score they received was relatively high and could not be interpreted as pointing to
complete incompetence to handle the issue.
Lastly, it turned out to be true that the covered issue moderates the relationship between gender and perceived competence per se leading to an altered voting intention. Females are perceived as more competent when they appear in news coverage about an educational issue and this has in turn a positive effect on the intention to vote for them. This means that people still think that females are better qualified to deal with compassionate
issues that require more sympathetic response and are inclined to support them (Fox & Oxley, 2003). Additionally, the awareness of such phenomenon could become the key to electoral success for female politicians. The previous analyses showed that females are more likely to put an emphasis on one issue (Kahn & Goldenberg, 1991), therefore, if she decides to make education a central policy point of the campaign, it is likely that the wider support will be received. Lastly, the fact that we could not observe a similar phenomenon in regards of the national defense topic could also be explained by the fact that people do not perceive those typically-masculine issues as the most important anymore. Rather, when making their voting decision, they look into a wider picture of the predominant political situation where all discussed topics are equally important.
Limitations and implications for future research
One of the limitations of this study is that discussing the effects on perceived
competence and voting intention we did not take into consideration the party affiliation. It has been previously argued that the membership or preference for a party might substantially affect how people perceive and evaluate political actors (Dolan, 2010; Hayes, 2011). This is especially the case in countries where a two-party system is prevalent. Even though in our case this was not the main shortcoming because we conducted the research in a country where multi-party system prevail (Lithuania), if the intention was to expand the scope of a similar research approach, this should be taken into consideration.
Additionally, we would recommend revising the size of the sample. The conducted 2 x 2 between-subjects experimental study was based on the responses of 122 participants and each of 4 conditions involved around 30 participants. While it is more than the suggested minimum, such number still would not be sufficient to make implications representative of
the population. For that reason, to sustain the external validity of the study, we advise to recruit more respondents.
Lastly, the conducted experiment was based on the comparison between two issues, education (assumed as feminine) and national defense (seen as masculine), and it provided a sufficient validation for the result. However, in line with previously conducted similar research, we suggest including an additional “neutral” condition which would give the research team a better insight on the interplay between the gender of a politician, the issue covered and what effects it might have on a larger scope.
Conclusion
Overall, in this study we aimed at addressing the issue that female politicians are evaluated differently compared to male politicians. Specifically, we focused on perceived competence which itself might lead to the altered voting intention. Interestingly, our main finding demonstrated that female politicians are actually perceived as more competent than male politicians. They also benefit and are more likely to be supported by the electorate when typically feminine issue is discussed. Therefore, such explanatory findings could be an additional information source and stimulus for politicians who aim to remain in the high positions they occupy. Specifically, politicians who are disadvantaged in their media coverage should put more effort into taking an active role in the mediated political
communication. By doing this, it is possible to shape how the electorate perceives them and, importantly, sustain the impression of their competence.
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Appendix
Manipulation material
Note. The experiment was conducted in Lithuania, therefore the manipulation material was presented in Lithuanian language. Such presentation had an advantage because all nouns in this language acquire an ending which corresponds to the referred gender. For example, in English it is “the Minister” which can be use for both, male and female. In Lithuanian language it is “Ministre” for a female and “Ministras” for a male. The same rule applies to other words. It is believed that such grammatical structure further sustained the aim to make an explicit reference to the gender of a politician.
Condition I – Female politician on education issue
"The changes that have been discussed in the electoral program will be the continuity of what has been previously said about the student's basket, decreasing respect for the
teacher, importance of children's education, and many other topics. The financing of
education system coming from GDP needs to grow and cannot be in the descending curve - last year it was 4.7%, and this year it is only 4.2%. We have to think about education as a priority area for the political action and we believe that the funding and the approach to education in general will vary according to the structural points"- said the Minister of Education Mrs. Justina Kazlauskienė.
Moreover, in her opinion, it is time to change the official age at which children start the primary school. “Children became very knowledge-receptive, that is why the time has come to start the compulsory education at the age of 6, and start the preparatory classes at 5" – said J.Kazlauskienė.
When talking about the general education schools, J.Kazlauskienė stressed that up until the year 11 of the secondary school, teachers try to apply creativity in the teaching
programs, but during the last two years of the secondary education they become, in her words, private tutors.
When preparing the government programme, the new minister of Education said that she is going to propose a change regarding the secondary school graduation systems. J. Kazlauskienė believe that students should be assessed on the basis of two components: first, the three state exams: Lithuanian language, history and mathematics. And the second component would be a thesis. The themes of it could already be more specific according to school leaver’s desired profile, choosing a profession, study orientation. In her view, the diploma should include the entire student’s portfolio – exam grades, the evaluation of the thesis as well as the clubs attended or outstanding interests.
Concluding her speech, she said that the new government should pay exceptional attention to improving the education system, not only to reduce emigration, but also because of other important reason - "Education is the foundation of national security", - was confident Mrs. Justina Kazlauskienė.
Condition II – Male politician on education issue
"The changes that have been discussed in the electoral program will be the continuity of what has been previously said about the student's basket, decreasing respect for the teacher, importance of children's education, and many other topics. The financing of education system coming from GDP needs to grow and cannot be in the descending curve - last year it was 4.7%, and this year it is only 4.2%. We have to think about education as a priority area for the political action and we believe that the funding and the approach to education in general will vary according to the structural points"- said the Minister of Education Mr. Justinas Kazlauskas.
Moreover, in his opinion, it is time to change the official age at which children start the primary school. “Children became very knowledge-receptive, that is why the time has come to start the compulsory education at the age of 6, and start the preparatory classes at 5" – said J.Kazlauskas.
When talking about the general education schools, J.Kazlauskas stressed that up until the year 11 of the secondary school, teachers try to apply creativity in the teaching programs, but during the last two years of the secondary education they become, in hir words, private tutors.
When preparing the government programme, the new minister of Education said that he is going to propose a change regarding the secondary school graduation systems. J.
Kazlauskas believe that students should be assessed on the basis of two components: first, the three state exams: Lithuanian language, history and mathematics. And the second component would be a thesis. The themes of it could already be more specific according to school leaver’s desired profile, choosing a profession, study orientation. In his view, the diploma should include the entire student’s portfolio – exam grades, the evaluation of the thesis as well as the clubs attended or outstanding interests.
Concluding his speech, he said that the new government should pay exceptional attention to improving the education system, not only to reduce emigration, but also because of other important reason - "Education is the foundation of national security", - was confident Mr. Justinas Kazlauskas.
Condition III – Female politician on national defense
The newly elected Minister of Foreign Affairs Justina Kazlauskienė said that currently Russia is not a NATO partner and, despite the wish of some members of the
Alliance to return to normal cooperation with it, Moscow does not show the initiative to create a favorable environment for the normalization of relations.
Lithuania, as a NATO member, worries that D. Trump does not recognize Moscow as a direct threat in the Eastern Europe, and that the president-elect is going to prioritize U.S. relations with Russia over Washington’s commitments to NATO. “Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to take the advantage of Trump’s apathetic position on mutual defense to test the diplomatic and military determination of the Alliance”, - Mrs. Justina Kazlauskienė told the BBC. In such circumstances the Baltic States and the Syrian city of Aleppo would be particularly vulnerable, she warned.
In the words of Mrs. J.Kazlauskiene, there is the fear that the United States is keen to see Russia as a potential partner and is reluctant to share the view prevailing in the Eastern Europe that Moscow presents a potent and immediate military threat. Summarising her position, the Minister of Foreign Affairs added, “Russia is not a superpower, it's a super problem."
"The best countries to understand Russia are always those who are closest to it" she told the BBC.
"As a child I still remember the sound of the tanks rolling through the streets of Vilnius so even my generation - and I'm 34 - still remembers when the Russians were here as a Soviet army. But they were Russian troops and they were invading us, so the last thing we are on this subject is naive." – she argued decidedly.
Condition IV – Male politician on national defense
The newly elected Minister of Foreign Affairs Justinas Kazlauskas said that currently Russia is not a NATO partner and, despite the wish of some members of the Alliance to
return to normal cooperation with it, Moscow does not show the initiative to create a favorable environment for the normalization of relations.
Lithuania, as a NATO member, worries that D. Trump does not recognize Moscow as a direct threat in the Eastern Europe, and that the president-elect is going to prioritize U.S. relations with Russia over Washington’s commitments to NATO. “Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to take the advantage of Trump’s apathetic position on mutual defense to test the diplomatic and military determination of the Alliance”, - Mr. Justinas Kazlauskas told the BBC. In such circumstances the Baltic States and the Syrian city of Aleppo would be particularly vulnerable, he warned.
In the words of Mr. J.Kazlauskas, there is the fear that the United States is keen to see Russia as a potential partner and is reluctant to share the view prevailing in the Eastern Europe that Moscow presents a potent and immediate military threat. Summarising his position, the Minister of Foreign Affairs added, “Russia is not a superpower, it's a super problem."
"The best countries to understand Russia are always those who are closest to it" - he told the BBC.
"As a child I still remember the sound of the tanks rolling through the streets of Vilnius so even my generation - and I'm 34 - still remembers when the Russians were here as a Soviet army. But they were Russian troops and they were invading us, so the last thing we are on this subject is naive." – he argued decidedly.
