Chiao Joan Y, Bowman Nicholas E, Gill Harleen
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
PLoS One. 2008;3(10):e3666. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003666. Epub 2008 Oct 31.
Throughout human history, a disproportionate degree of political power around the world has been held by men. Even in democracies where the opportunity to serve in top political positions is available to any individual elected by the majority of their constituents, most of the highest political offices are occupied by male leaders. What psychological factors underlie this political gender gap? Contrary to the notion that people use deliberate, rational strategies when deciding whom to vote for in major political elections, research indicates that people use shallow decision heuristics, such as impressions of competence solely from a candidate's facial appearance, when deciding whom to vote for. Because gender has previously been shown to affect a number of inferences made from the face, here we investigated the hypothesis that gender of both voter and candidate affects the kinds of facial impressions that predict voting behavior.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDING: Male and female voters judged a series of male and female political candidates on how competent, dominant, attractive and approachable they seemed based on their facial appearance. Then they saw a series of pairs of political candidates and decided which politician they would vote for in a hypothetical election for President of the United States. Results indicate that both gender of voter and candidate affect the kinds of facial impressions that predict voting behavior. All voters are likely to vote for candidates who appear more competent. However, male candidates that appear more approachable and female candidates who appear more attractive are more likely to win votes. In particular, men are more likely to vote for attractive female candidates whereas women are more likely to vote for approachable male candidates.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Here we reveal gender biases in the intuitive heuristics that voters use when deciding whom to vote for in major political elections. Our findings underscore the impact of gender and physical appearance on shaping voter decision-making and provide novel insight into the psychological foundations underlying the political gender gap.
在人类历史上，世界各地政治权力的分配严重不均衡，男性掌握着更大比例的政治权力。即使在民主国家，任何获得多数选民选举的个人都有机会担任最高政治职位，但大多数最高政治职位仍由男性领导人占据。这种政治性别差距背后的心理因素是什么？与人们在重大政治选举中决定投票对象时使用深思熟虑、理性策略的观念相反，研究表明，人们在决定投票给谁时，会使用肤浅的决策启发法，比如仅从候选人的面部外观来判断其能力印象。由于此前已有研究表明性别会影响从面部做出的一系列推断，因此我们在此研究了一个假设，即选民和候选人的性别都会影响预测投票行为的面部印象类型。
方法/主要发现：男性和女性选民根据一系列男性和女性政治候选人的面部外观，对他们看起来有多能干、有多有主导力、有多有吸引力以及有多平易近人进行评判。然后，他们会看到一系列政治候选人的配对，并决定在一场假设的美国总统选举中会投票给哪位政治家。结果表明，选民和候选人的性别都会影响预测投票行为的面部印象类型。所有选民都有可能投票给看起来更有能力的候选人。然而，看起来更平易近人的男性候选人以及看起来更有吸引力的女性候选人更有可能赢得选票。特别是，男性更有可能投票给有吸引力的女性候选人，而女性更有可能投票给平易近人的男性候选人。
结论/意义：我们在此揭示了选民在重大政治选举中决定投票对象时所使用的直观启发法中存在的性别偏见。我们的研究结果强调了性别和外貌对塑造选民决策的影响，并为政治性别差距背后的心理基础提供了新的见解。
