The Role of Stereotyped Policy Signals in Electability: A Photo Experiment

• In Event: Using Experimental Methods to Understand Politics in the Middle East

Abstract

Role congruity theory suggests that candidates who do not look like those of the past will be more visible and face biases at the polls. Yet, what explains these biases? Using a survey experiment embedded in the 2015 Jordanian Post-Election Survey, we test the role of socially-stereotyped trait, competency, and policy signals based on gender and religiosity in candidate electability in Jordan. First, respondents are presented at random with a pair of candidate photos – either a secular-appearing male and female or a religious-appearing male and female – and asked how likely they would be to vote for each candidate. Then, respondents are asked how much they believe each candidate would be to support particular policies, including implementation of the Shari’a and gender equality policies once in office. Gender biases are pronounced in Jordan, but religious candidates face less substantial barriers. We expect stereotypes in the society surrounding the idea that the secular-appearing female will support women’s rights is a strong driver of her electability, while expectations that candidates will implement Shari’a explains the electability of both male and female religious appearing candidates. Departing from existing research, we argue that while role congruity theory best explains gender biases, social identity theory accounts for preferences based on candidate religiosity and for women who vote for female candidates. Our findings have important implications for policymakers aiming to understand political inequalities and helps inform how institutional solutions like quotas can best address under-representation of women in politics.

Authors

• Lindsay J. Benstead, Portland State University

• Kristen Kao, University of Gothenburg