Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Effects of Race and Gender on Evaluations of Black Women

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

This study investigates how stereotypes about race and gender affect support for black women political candidates. The vast majority of political science research on race and gender examines these two identities separately. Consequently, little is known about how race and gender stereotypes interact when a minority female candidate runs for office. This project examines how black women candidates face distinct stereotypes based on the intersection of their race and gender, which make it more difficult for them to win votes in political campaigns. This study advances our knowledge of the ways stereotypes affect black women differently than other underrepresented groups, such as white women and black men. This research also has the potential to help black women candidates understand the types of campaign messages that exacerbate negative stereotypes the public holds about black women and which strategies could help mitigate the influence of these stereotypes. As a result, black women candidates may be better able to counteract negative stereotypes through their campaigns and increase their representation in elected office. Scholars of intersectionality theory emphasize that race and gender are mutually constructed identities, such that their combined influence is not necessarily equal to sum of its parts. Yet, most research in political science still examines race and gender in isolation from one another. This project investigates how stereotypes based on the intersection of race and gender affect support for black women candidates. Research in social psychology demonstrates that whites stereotype black women as being tough, assertive, and domineering. It is unclear, however, how these agentic stereotypes impact support for black women political candidates. In addition, there is little empirical research on whether African Americans also stereotype women of their own racial group in this manner. This project examines a theory of intersectional stereotyping, which argues that black women candidates are negatively impacted by unique stereotypes based on the intersection of race and gender. Specifically, we argue that stereotypes associating black women with agentic traits lead black women candidates to be evaluated more negatively among voters outside of their own race and gender group. In other words, we expect that the agentic stereotype not only reduces support for black women candidates among white voters, but also reduces support among black men. This theory will be tested using a national survey experiment, with an over-sample of African Americans. This research demonstrates the importance of using an intersectional framework to study the political campaigns of candidates from underrepresented groups. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.