Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Threat On Preferences For Male Versus Female Candidates, Marley Sandberg

Honors Theses

In the United States, there is a continuing question of why the political bodies of the government, (i.e. the Senate and the House of Representatives) lack descriptive representation for women (Paxton, Kunovich & Hughes, 2007). We have seen a growing body of research that tries to explain this lack of female politicians. While many explanations have been found that partially explain this, such as incumbent status favoring men, and fewer political role models for women (Paxton, Kunovich & Hughes, 2007), there still has been no definitive answer. There is reason to believe that threat may play a role in a …