Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Individual Differences In Pyschological Evaluations Of Electoral Risk: Furthering The Explanation Of The Gender Gap In Candidate Emergence, Jennie Sweet-Cushman

Wayne State University Dissertations

Despite decades of movement towards gender parity in other aspects of American society (e.g. education, business), women remain significantly underrepresented in the political realm. Electoral bias against women cannot be blamed; when women run, women win. However, women don't seek political office in high numbers. This project builds on previous examinations of the gender gap in political ambition by proposing that a contributing factor to the likelihood someone will seek political office is their perception of electoral risk. While there have been no studies of gender-based differences in psychological response to electoral risk, differences in risk assessment have been documented …