Digital Commons Network^™

The Heart Of Politics: A Typology Of Gender Stereotypes In Campaign Advertisements And Analysis Of Emotional Reactions Among Voters, Kristina La Plant

Political Science Dissertations

As female representation continues to grow in Congress, some have questioned whether gender stereotypes still matter in American politics. In this dissertation, I examine gender differences in communication rhetoric in campaign advertisements and how exposure to these messages influence emotions, reliance on cognitive heuristics, and vote choice. I perform a content analysis on a random sample of 1,400 candidate-sponsored congressional advertisements from 2010-2016 and identify eight distinct stereotype-content messaging themes which I call Affective Competence Strategies. I find evidence that female candidates more frequently emphasize merit-based messaging over values-based messaging, suggesting that female candidates rely on specific communication strategies to …