Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Playing Hardball in a Dress? Gender Differences in the Reliance and Effectiveness of Negative Campaigns

性别刻板印象无处不在(Ashmore，Del Boca and Wohler，1986；Broverman et al.，1972；Williams and Best，1990)，并导致人们认为男性具有大胆和攻击性等代理特征，而女性则被视为具有共同特征，如温暖和同情(McKee and Sheriff，1957；Parsons and Bales，1955)。在现代政治竞选的背景下，负面竞选活动正在兴起(例如，Mayer，1996；Johnson-Carty和Copeland，1991；Ansolabhere和Iyengar，1995)，并且通常被视为一种有效的策略(见Finkel和Geer，1998；Kahn和Kenney，1999；Freedman和Goldstein，1999；Brians和Wtenberg，1996)，考察陈规定型观念如何影响负面竞选活动的影响是一个重要的问题。为了研究这个问题，我们将使用威斯康星州广告项目和竞选媒体分析小组(CMAG)1998年和2000年的数据，对国会竞选活动中对负面广告的依赖进行内容分析，以检验性别差异。为了检查男性和女性候选人的负面竞选效果的差异，将实施一项创新的实验。政治广告将在实验环境中制作并向受试者播放；广告中的四个因素将有所不同：(1)广告赞助商的性别；(2)广告的语气；(3)广告目标的性别；(4)广告的内容，创造2(语调)×2(赞助者性别)×2(目标性别)×4(内容)析因设计。通过只改变感兴趣的自变量，并通过在每个广告中保持所有其他内容相同，主题的差异。对候选人的评价可以归因于自变量的变化。最后，考查各科目是否合格。政治和人口背景(例如，政党、种族、性别)条件将审查陈规定型观念对他们对负面竞选活动的反应的影响。论文项目的学术价值在于，首先，它建立在心理学文献的基础上，这些文献通过修改关于性别刻板印象的实质、普遍性和后果的想法来考察性别刻板印象。其次，它建立在政治学和传播学文献的基础上，通过提高学者们对不同类型政治信息对不同政治候选人的有效性的理解，来研究负面竞选活动。该项目产生的更广泛的影响包括更深入地了解负面竞选活动对女性国会候选人的效果。由于研究表明，女性政治家经常扩大立法议程(Clark，1998；Dodson，1998；Mandel和Dodson，1992；Thomas，1994；Thomas and Welch，1991)，并成功地解决了男性官员忽视的问题(例如，妇女和儿童问题)(Dodson等人，1995；Dodson等人，1995；Schreiber 1995；Witt，Paget和Matthews，1994)，增加妇女在选举产生的职位中的人数是我们代议制民主的一个重要目标。因此，有必要探讨女性在竞选公职时面临的障碍。在这项研究中，通过检查性别刻板印象如何影响负面竞选活动的影响，将审查妇女增加其选举存在的可能性。

Sex stereotypes are ubiquitous (Ashmore, Del Boca and Wohlers, 1986; Broverman et al., 1972; Williams and Best, 1990), and lead people to perceive men as possessing agentic traits such as boldness and aggressiveness, while women are perceived as possessing communal traits such as warmth and sympathy (McKee and Sheriffs, 1957, 1958; Parsons and Bales, 1955). In the context of modern political campaigns, where negative campaigning is on the rise (e.g., Mayer, 1996; Johnson-Cartee and Copeland, 1991; Ansolabehere and Iyengar, 1995), and is often viewed as an effective strategy (see Finkel and Geer, 1998; Kahn and Kenney, 1999; Freedman and Goldstein, 1999; Brians and Wattenberg, 1996), examining how stereotypes influence the impact of negative campaigning is an important question. To examine this question, a content analysis will be conducted to examine gender differences in the reliance on negative advertisements in congressional campaigns, using 1998 and 2000 data from the Wisconsin Advertising Project and the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG). To examine differences in the effectiveness of negative campaigns for men and women candidates, an innovative experiment will be implemented. Political commercials will be created and shown to subjects in an experimental setting; and four factors will be varied in the commercials: (1) the gender of the sponsor of the ad; (2) the tone of the ad; (3) the gender of the target of the ad; and (4) the content of the ad, creating a 2 (tone) x 2 (sponsor gender) x 2 (target gender) x 4 (content) factorial design. By only varying the independent variables of interest, and by keeping all other content the same in each of the commercials, the differences in subjects. evaluations of the candidates can be attributed to the variation in the independent variables. Finally, an examination on whether the subjects. political and demographic background (e.g., political party, race, gender) condition the impact that stereotypes have on their reaction to negative campaigning will be examined. The intellectual merit of the dissertation project is that first, it builds on the psychological literature that examines gender stereotypes by revising ideas about the substance, pervasiveness, and consequences of gender stereotypes. Second, it builds on the political science and communication literature that examines negative campaigning by improving scholars understanding of the effectiveness of different types of political messages for different political candidates. The broader impacts resulting from the project include a deeper understanding of how effective negative campaigns are for women congressional candidates. Since research shows that women politicians often expand the legislative agenda (Clark, 1998; Dodson, 1998; Mandel and Dodson, 1992; Thomas, 1994; Thomas and Welch, 1991), and are successful at addressing issues that get short shrift by male officeholders (e.g., women and children.s issues) (Dodson et al., 1995; Dodson 1995; Schreiber 1995; Witt, Paget, and Matthews, 1994), increasing the number of women in elective office is an important goal in our representative democracy. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the obstacles women face when running for office. In this study, by examining how gender stereotypes influence the impact of negative campaigns, women.s likelihood of increasing their electoral presence will be examined.