Gender, Emotion, and Political Engagement in U.S. Politics

• In Event: Emotions, Fashion, and Redefining Politics

Abstract

I examine gender, partisan, racial, and ethnic patterns in emotional responses to US presidential candidates between 1980 and 2016. I also consider the effects of those emotional responses on levels of political participation in US politics. This research draws on repeated cross-sections of ANES respondents to test hypotheses about gender and partisan differences between women and men in different electoral contexts. For example, I expect women’s emotions toward out-party candidates to be stronger in electoral contexts where gender is especially salient, but to otherwise differ little from men’s responses. I also take advantage of the larger sample size offered by pooling ANES data between 1980 and 2016 to examine the ways in which women’s cross-cutting partisan, racial, and ethnic identities shape their emotional responses to candidates. I expect that partisan and racial differences among women will be greater than the differences between women’s and men’s emotional responses. I supplement the survey findings with data from interviews with 23 women volunteers for 2018 Democratic women congressional candidates. The interviews provide insight into how emotions fuel greater political participation among women.

Author

• Kathleen M. Rogers, Rutgers University